Turkish airstrike on PKK vehicle in Iraq's disputed Sinjar leaves at least 3 dead: Sources

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A vehicle reportedly carrying members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) came under a Turkish airstrike in the Yezidi(Ezidi)-majority town of Sinjar (Shingal) on Monday, leaving at least three deaths and two more injured, according to local sources who spoke to Kurdistan 24.

The attack, allegedly carried out by the Turkish military, struck the vehicle inside Sinjar’s Old Market neighborhood at 12:30 in the afternoon.

The PKK has been locked in a decades-long conflict against Ankara over Kurdish rights in Turkey that has led to tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. The group is headquartered in the Kurdistan Region's Qandil Mountains, mostly in rural areas along the Turkish and Iranian borders.

The clashes have escalated in recent weeks, as have hostilities between the PKK and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Officials from both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have repeatedly called on Turkey and the PKK to take their fight away from areas populated by civilians, thousands of whom have been displaced, suffered damage to their farms, livestock, or other property. Others have suffered serious injury or even death as a result of skirmishes or Turkish bombardment of suspected PKK positions.

The conflict has escalated in recent weeks, as have hostilities between the PKK and the KRG.

A commander of Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Sinjar claimed on Wednesday that the PKK has candidates with whom it is affiliated that are running for office in upcoming national parliamentary elections.

Read More: Two candidates in Iraqi election are backed by PKK: Peshmerga commander

"There are two candidates in the upcoming Iraqi elections affiliated with and loyal to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, and they are competing for a quota for Yezidis in Sinjar," said Qassim Darbo, the commander.

"Holding elections in Sinjar during the current circumstances will be difficult with the absence of stability there," he added, remarking that he was expecting "fraudulent operations of the election results if they take place in the district."

Darbo explained, "The situation in Sinjar has not changed due to the failure to implement the security agreement between Baghdad and Erbil on the normalization of service, administrative, and security conditions in Sinjar." 

Editing by John J. Catherine