Iraqi tourists killed in Turkish bombing in Duhok

Turkish artillery bombed Batifa sub-district in Dohuk governorate on Sunday, killing two Iraqi tourists from the central and southern governorates of Iraq.

The mayor of Batifa district, Farhad Mahmoud, said in a brief statement that "Two tourists from the central and southern regions were killed in Turkish artillery shelling."

"The bombing targeted the Batifa sub-district of Zakho district in Dohuk governorate," he added.

Turkey continuously carries out offensives of varying magnitude inside the Kurdistan Region territories, allegedly against the PKK. However, in recent years, it's begun to establish more of a sustained presence in a growing number of bases and checkpoints dotting the mountains of the Kurdistan Region despite calls from Iraqi authorities to stop these actions. 

Thousands of acres of land have been burnt, many villages have been evacuated due to Turkish bombings, and even civilian casualties have fallen due to the continuous Turkish operations. 

Last Tuesday, a Turkish drone bombed a medical center in Shingal (Sinjar) district killing 11 civilians. read more

The bombing was the second one in Shingal in just 24 hours. Another drone attack was launched on Monday, which killed two members of the YBS and coincided with the visit of the Federal Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi to the Yazidi village of Kocho.

According to Al-Monitor, Arzu Yilmaz, a Middle East scholar and visiting fellow at Hamburg University reckons that there are more than 5,000 Turkish forces currently deployed in the Kurdistan Region and Bashiqa, an area under Iraqi central government control lying east of Mosul.



PUKmedia