Turkish drone kills journalist in Rojava: SOHR

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – At least one journalist was killed when a suspected Turkish drone targeted a vehicle on the Qamishli-Amuda road in northeast Syria (Rojava), a war monitor and local media reported. 

“A Turkish drone targeted a car carrying journalists near Mazar Shaikh Jabr village … killing one person and injuring another,” the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. 

Hawar News Agency (ANHA), affiliated with the Kurdish administration in Rojava, identified the victim as Najmaddin Faisal Haj Sinan, a journalist working for the Jin TV channel, and said that a female journalist was injured in the strike. 

Ankara frequently conducts drone strikes on targets in northern Syria on the grounds that they have links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and pose a threat to Turkey. 

The PKK is an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers the group and its alleged offshoots in Syria as terrorist organizations and has carried out two major military operations against them since 2018.

According to SOHR, Turkey has carried out 37 drone strikes on areas controlled by Kurdish forces in northern Syria since January, and the attacks have resulted in 54 deaths.