Two Kurdish fighters were killed and two injured in an airstrike by Turkish warplanes targeted a vehicle in Mouns Shingal Sinjar in Niewa province Friday afternoon, two sources told KirkukNow.
The raid took place at 3:30 in the afternoon of Friday, January 21, 2022, by a Turkish drone that targeted a vehicle for Shingal Resistance Units YBSh, a militant group in Shingal, in the Shilo area, west of Shingal (Sinjar) district of Ninewa province.
Khudida Elias, head of the Autonomous Administration Council in Shingal said, "Turkish planes targeted a vehicle of YBSh (Yabasha) forces twice. Unfortunately, two were martyred inside the vehicle and two others were wounded."
The Autonomous Administration Council was established years ago to manage the affairs of Shingal district and is considered close to the Kurdistan Workers Party PKK, which fights Turkey and holds territories in Iraq. The council makes statements on behalf of Yabasha forces.
Elias said that the health condition of the wounded is stable and that they have received necessary treatment.
For its part, media close to Yabasha announced that the Turkish attack resulted in the killing of Azad Yezidian, a commander of Yabasha, along with Anwar Tolhildan, in addition to wounding two others.
The administrative Council, though not recognized by the federal government in Baghdad or the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG, it is backed by the locals supporting pro-PKK groups: Ezidkhan Asayish (security), Yabasha and Women Protection Units YPZh (Yapazha) based in Mount Shingal. Ezidkhan Asayish (security) has about 1,000 fighters and is part of YBSh, in charge of the security in the area.
Ninewa: A patrol of Yabasha raising their flag and photo of Abdullah Ocalan, former president of PKK. Media of Yabasha
Yabasha and other factions close to the PKK had settled in 2014 in Shingal and the surrounding areas, following the attack by the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant ISIL militants targeted the vulnerable Ezidi (Yazidi) community.
A source in the mayor of Shingal, who asked not to be named, told KirkukNow, "The Turkish raid targeted a vehicle belonging to Yabsha forces, and unfortunately, two Yabsha fighters were killed, but we do not know the number of the wounded."
"The same area was targeted several times," the source added.
There are more than eight different armed forces within the borders of Sinjar district, including the pro-Iran Shiite paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces PMF, Ezidkhan Asayish forces, Yabsha, Yapazha the local police, the Federal Police, the Iraqi army, the Ezidkhan Peshmerga and the KRG’s Peshmerga forces stationed in a religious shrine.
Although some of the pro-PKK forces withdrew in 2018 from most of the areas of Shingal to the outskirts, Mount Shingal and Syrian territories under an agreement with the Iraqi government, but part of Yabasha forces are still present in the area with the approval of the Iraqi government.
During the past year, the Turkish army launched several raids in different areas of Shingal under the pretext of targeting the headquarters of PKK and officials close to the party.
Shingal district, 120 km west of Mosul, administratively part of Ninewa province, but the district is one of the disputed areas between the Erbil-based KRG and the Iraqi Federal Government.
