Two Dead, Seven Injured in Turkish Air Strikes Hitting YBS Site in Iraq

A file photo taken on February 4, 2019, shows a general view of damaged buildings in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar. (AFP)
A file photo taken on February 4, 2019, shows a general view of damaged buildings in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar. (AFP)
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Two Dead, Seven Injured in Turkish Air Strikes Hitting YBS Site in Iraq

A file photo taken on February 4, 2019, shows a general view of damaged buildings in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar. (AFP)
A file photo taken on February 4, 2019, shows a general view of damaged buildings in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar. (AFP)

At least two people were killed and seven injured in Turkish air strikes targeting the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), in Iraq's northern province of Sinjar, security sources said on Wednesday.

They said one strike targeted an intelligence headquarters and another hit a civilian area, causing damage to nearby shops.

Videos on social media showed plumes of thick smoke and fires ablaze while people ran away in the street, though Reuters could not immediately verify the videos.

There has been a long-running Turkish campaign in Iraq and Syria against militants of the PKK and the Syrian Kurdish YPG, which are both regarded as terrorist groups by Ankara.

Turkey regularly carries out air strikes into northern Iraq and has sent commandos to support its offensives.

In April, the Turkish foreign ministry summoned the Iraqi charge d'affaires after Baghdad accused Ankara of violating its sovereignty and called on it to withdraw all of its forces from Iraqi territory.

The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which in the past was mainly focused in southeast Turkey.



Roadside Bomb Wounds Four in Iraq's Kirkuk

Security forces in Iraq. (AFP file photo)
Security forces in Iraq. (AFP file photo)
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Roadside Bomb Wounds Four in Iraq's Kirkuk

Security forces in Iraq. (AFP file photo)
Security forces in Iraq. (AFP file photo)

A roadside bomb wounded four people in the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk on Saturday, police sources said.
The bomb targeted a commercial district in the city center. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, according to Reuters.
Earlier in the week, four Iraqi soldiers were killed and three others injured in an ambush on an army convoy southwest of Kirkuk, which ISIS militants claimed responsibility for.
Despite the group's defeat in 2017, remnants continue to conduct hit-and-run attacks against government forces.