August and September Report on Turkish Military Operations in Iraqi Kurdistan
On August 6th, Alan Ismaeel, who was recently married, was killed by a Turkish drone strike in Shkfate Snoore village in the Chamanke sub-district belonging to Amedi in Duhok province. One person was injured in the same attack.
On August 9th, Nazhwan Abdulla was killed in Qalat village in the Dukan district of Sulaymaniyah province. One other person from Syria was injured in the same attack.
On 11th August, Hassan Ahmad Kashmoola, Ziyad Mustafa, and his 17 year old daughter, Rayan, were killed by Turkish military air strikes on their vehicle in the Penjwen district while traveling to Iran.
From August 31st to September 3rd Turkey targeted 25 locations that were hundreds of kilometres from the Turkish-Iraqi border.
On August 31st, the Turkish Armed Forces conducted a series of bombardments in Bole, Slle, and Esewa villages of the Pishdar district and Gallala village of the Mawat district. In those bombardments, no civilians were killed or injured; however, due to the fear of being bombed inside their houses, villagers from Esewa stayed outside for a couple of hours. During the bombardments, farmers from Gallala village were farming in their fields. Due to the situation, the farmers couldn’t be contacted by their families for a few hours and could not return home until midnight because of the fear of being targeted.
On September 2nd, Turkey also bombed Kani Mirany Komary village of Penjwen, but no civilian casualties have been reported.
Including damage to civilian homes and buildings, dozens of agricultural lands have been burned due to the recent bombings, causing environmental and economic damage. Turkey has been conducting airstrikes further south into Iraqi Kurdistan and intensified their military operations in cities and inhabited areas.
On 18 September, the Turkish Air Force targeted the Arbat Agricultural Airport - a small airfield 17 kilometres south of Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan.
According to official sources, three KRG Kurdish counter-terrorism team members and three Rojava counter-terrorism team members were killed by missiles from two Turkish drones while undertaking a training exercise at the airfield. The Turkish Foreign Ministry has also released an official statement confirming responsibility.
This bombardment is a new escalation as it is the first time Turkey, a member of NATO, has deliberately targeted an Iraqi Kurdistan security force. The attack also emphasises the recent increase in Turkish drone strikes in the Sulaymaniyah governorate, far from the Iraq-Turkey border. People in the Sulaymaniyah governorate area no longer feel safe.
Two days later, the Turkish drone targeted the car of a shopkeeper in the village of Endze in the Pshdar district of the Sulaymaniyah area. His vehicle was attacked while working 50 metres away in his shop. He was unharmed. CPT spoke to the shopkeeper shortly after the attack, and he said, "I was in my shop as usual, and the drone attacked my car and damaged two other cars in the area. Turkey doesn't distinguish between civilian and armed people".
On September 27th Asty Muhammad, 55, a villager from Bokriskan, Pishdar district, was killed in a Turkish drone attack. Another person, Two other people were injured in the same incident.
Analysis on Bombardments
Since August 1st, the number of Turkish bombardments and drone strikes increased significantly. Almost every day in the past two months a bombardment occurred. During these two months, 6 people were killed and 3 people were injured while only 3 people were killed and 3 people were injured in the previous 7 months.
The drone strike on Arbat airport signifies an increase in escalation of Turkish military action. It was the first attack on a formal military exercise of KRG security forces. CPT-IK does not consider the three commanders killed as civilians however the attack was 3.5 kilometers away from the Arbat refugee camp and 17 kilometers away from Slemani.
In 2023, Turkey has significantly increased its drones strike and bombardments deeper into Iraqi sovereign territory. Drone activity is present through all times of the day throughout the Sulaymaniyah governorate conducting operations approximately more than 200 kilometers away from the Turkish border.