Turkey resumed airstrikes on the Yazidi heartland of Sinjar in northern Iraq on Aug. 25 after first attacking the area in mid-June. Turkish airstrikes have been going on for months in other parts of Iraq’s Kurdistan.
The Turkish drone struck an Iraqi border guard convoy in the Bradost area, north of Erbil. The strike that killed two senior officers was part of Turkish operations by land and air against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in parts of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Following the incident, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry summoned Turkey’s ambassador to Iraq Fatih Yildiz Aug. 12, calling the strike an act of aggression and a violation of the country’s sovereignty. The Iraqi government canceled the Turkish defense minister’s visit to Baghdad and other scheduled visits by Turkish officials to Iraq.
