A Bayraktar Akıncı combat drone. Source: the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
On July 17, five people were killed and two others were wounded when a Turkish combat drone targeted a vehicle in the outskirts of the town of Haj Dijlah to the west of the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Shortly after the strike, the Directorate General of Counter Terrorism in Kurdistan claimed in a statement that the vehicle belonged to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and that the casualties were members of the group.
These claims were dismissed by the PKK, who said that the vehicle was carrying civilians. Later it became known that the casualties were all members of the same family. One of the five killed in the strike was identified as Ahmad Elias al-Jabouri, a student at al-Mosul University.
This was one of Turkey’s deadliest drone strikes on northern Iraq, where its military has been conducting a military operation against Kurdish insurgents. The operation, codenamed Claw-Lock, was launched in April. Its main goal is to neutralize PKK cells in the areas of Metina, Zap and Avashin Basyan.
The drone strike was likely a response to recent successful attacks by the PKK that claimed the lives of at least five Turkish service members.
The Turkish Ministry of National Defense has acknowledged losing a total of 36 service members since the beginning of Operation Claw-Lock.
The deadly drone strike on Haj Dijlah led to a backlash against Turkey in Iraq. Many in Iraq already oppose Turkish military operations in their country and consider them illegitimate. The PKK or even pro-Iranian forces may respond to the strike.
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