A Turkish drone hit a vehicle used by Kurdish People’s Resistance Units (YPS) near an Iraqi military base in northern Iraq’s Sinjar province, Roj News reported on Sunday.

The Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ) announced in a written statement that no people were killed in the Turkish drone attack that targeted a vehicle earlier today in the Shengal (Sinjar) region in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq). The attack took place near an Iraqi army base in the village of Behreva near the Xanesor (Khanasor) town.

The incident is the latest example of regular air strikes by Turkey as part of a military campaign that Ankara claims is targeting groups linked to Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Turkey has been operating a military base in Sinjar since 2015, with Turkish troops being deployed on the pretext of training Iraqi forces in their fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).

ISIS took control of Sinjar in 2014 and almost wiped out the district’s community of Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking minority in northern Iraq. According to UN figures, straight after ISIS’ capture of the city, almost 200,000 people, mostly Yazidis, fled the district and moved to camps, where they lived in harsh conditions.

The PKK and members of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) liberated the area from ISIS in 2015 and formed YPS.

"Turkey wants to complete the ISIS genocide in Shengal"

"The Turkish state's dirty plan targets all the fought-for gains of our people and the people of the region. For this reason, people must rise up with great anger and be constantly in action. Our people must organise themselves against the occupiers and genocides", stated the YBŞ Command and vowed to continue the defence of the region under all circumstances: "We will resist against any form of occupation attack until the last moment of our lives and extend our struggle, whatever it may cost. For this we are even better prepared and even stronger than before."