Turkish air raid on north Iraq clinic causes civilian casualties: Reports

Multiple civilians were killed when a Turkish air raid hit a clinic in Iraq's Sinjar, multiple news outlets reported. The raid “totally destroyed” the makeshift clinic in the village of Sekaina, the district’s deputy mayor Jalal Khalef Bisso told Agence France-Presse.

Wednesday August 18 2021 01:35 pm

Picture taken from Twitter.

Duvar English

At least three people were killed on Aug. 17 when a Turkish air raid hit a clinic in northwest Iraq, a region Ankara regularly targets in operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), multiple media outlets reported.

The raid "totally destroyed" the makeshift clinic in the village of Sekaina in Sinjar province, the district's deputy mayor Jalal Khalef Bisso told Agence France-Presse.

A doctor in Sinjar said at least three people were killed and five others wounded. The raid consisted of three drone strikes, another official said.

A senior Iraqi army officer told AFP that the raid was carried out by Turkey's military.

#UPDATE Three people were killed Tuesday when a Turkish air raid hit a clinic in northwest Iraq, a region Ankara regularly targets in operations against Kurdish separatists, security and medical sources saidhttps://t.co/czcpycmLMW
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 17, 2021

A Turkish airstrike on Aug. 16 reportedly targeted and killed a senior Yazidi official of an Iraqi force linked to the PKK in Sinjar, along with two colleagues. It also wounded a PKK official, a member of the Yazidi minority.

He was transferred for treatment to the Sekaina facility that was hit on Aug. 17, according to a Yazidi activist contacted by AFP.

NI condemns, in the strongest terms possible, the reported Turkish airstrikes in #Sinjar. Yesterday, Turkish forces repeatedly bombed a medical facility in Sukayniya village, killing & injuring civilians. Blatant disregard for humanitarian norms & international law is evident.
— Nadia's Initiative (@nadiainitiative) August 18, 2021

Images shared online by purported residents showed a basement and clinic reduced to rubble and black smoke rising into the air.

The PKK is categorized as a terrorist organization by Ankara and has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey. It maintains bases in the rugged mountains of neighboring northern Iraq.

Repeated Turkish raids have stoked tensions with Baghdad, but President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has warned that his country will deal with the PKK presence if Iraq is unable to do so.

Turkey has installed around a dozen military bases over the past 25 years in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, and it launched a new cross-border offensive in the spring against the PKK, consisting of both aerial and ground attacks.

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 Iraqi Kurdistan - particularly aerial bombing -- has prompted hundreds of villagers to flee their homes.

Topics Turkey-Iraq Sinjar PKK Iraqi Kurdistan Turkish air raids