SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Turkish drone strike on Friday killed three people including a senior member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service said in a statement, making it the fifth drone attack this week in northern Iraq against Kurdish militants.
The three people were in their vehicle driving on Penjwen Sulaimaniya main road, which is heavily used by civilians, and about 30 km (18 miles) away from a popular tourist destination, when the drone struck them, three Kurdish security sources said.
The counter-terrorism statement said that the vehicle, which belonged to the PKK, was struck at 15:30 Iraq time.
Friday’s attack occurred a day after Turkey announced that five of its soldiers were killed in clashes with the PKK in northern Iraq.
There has been a long-running Turkish campaign in Iraq and Syria against militants of the PKK and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which are both regarded as terrorist groups by Ankara.
Turkey regularly carries out air strikes in northern Iraq and has dozens of outposts on Iraqi territory but has stepped up its drone attacks in recent days, striking closer to urban areas and on main roads.
The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.
On Wednesday Turkish drone strikes killed two suspected PKK members also on another main road about 10 km (six miles) from Dukan mountain resort, another popular tourist destination.
