SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied on Saturday that an air raid in Sinjar had targeted a clinic, insisting the facility housed members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Erdogan spoke by with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Saturday to discuss the two countries’ relations and regional issues.
“Contrary to the allegations of the terrorist organization, the target that was hit was not a hospital or a medical center, but was one of the places of accommodation of the organization,” Erdogan told Kadhimi.
A Turkish drone targeted a clinic in the village of Sekaina in Sinjar district on Tuesday, killing eight people and wounding four others.
Among the dead were four employees of the clinic and four fighters from the PKK-linked 80th Brigade of Iraq’s powerful, state-sponsored Hashid al-Shaabi.
The 80th Brigade is made up of Yazidi minority, who were persecuted by the Islamic State group from 2014 and whose bastion is Sinjar.
Sinjar’s deputy mayor Jalal Khalef told AFP that the air raid “totally destroyed” the clinic in Sinjar, a region Ankara regularly targets in operations against the Kurdish fighters affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The strikes came one day after a Turkish drone bombed a vehicle in Sinjar, killing three Yazidi fighters including a local chief of the Popular Mobilization forces.
On Wednesday, Iraq’s National Security Council condemned “unilateral military actions” in Sinjar district.
The security council, however, did not make any specific mention of Turkey, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or any attacks on the country.
But it rejected “the use of Iraqi land for settling scores”, according to the statement.
The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) condemned on Thursday the loss of life in the Turkish strikes on Sinjar, calling for investigations and establishing accountability for civilian deaths and injuries.
“Necessary precautions must be taken during military operations, including airstrikes, to protect and minimize harm to civilians who often suffer the consequences of such attacks,” UNAMI said in a statement.
It also called on all parties to “put the interests of citizens first, exercising restraint to avoid a dangerous escalation,” the statement read.
Turkish forces routinely conduct operations against PKK bases in rugged mountains in the Kurdistan Region.
On Friday, a Turkish airstrike killed a 50-year-old man in Disheshe village in Kani Mase sub-district, northeast of Duhok.
Turkish troops have maintained a network of bases in Iraq since the mid-1990s under security agreements struck with Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Iraq regularly decries violations of its sovereignty, and has repeatedly summoned the Turkish ambassador over Ankara’s cross-border military campaign.
But Iraq, which counts on Turkey as an important commercial partner, has refrained from taking punitive measures.
The Turkish offensive in the Kurdistan Region – particularly aerial bombing – has prompted hundreds of villagers to flee their homes.
