Drone strike kills three Yazidi commanders in Sinjar

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A pickup truck near the Serdest Camp in Sinjar (Shingal), Iraq, was targeted by a Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), also known as a drone, according to a report by Rojnews, a news outlet from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, on September 17.

The Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ), which was established under the leadership of Yazidis in Sinjar, on the other hand, issued a statement stating that their commanders Dindar Avesta, Piran Pir, and Çiya Feqir lost their lives in the attack.

YBŞ also assessed the purpose of the attack as "disrupting the security and peace of Sinjar" and "preventing the return of the Sinjar people back to their land."

What happened?

After ISIS captured Mosul in June 2014, they attacked Sinjar on August 3 and carried out a major massacre in the town. Hundreds of Yazidi Kurds were killed en masse, and more than 6,000 people, mostly women and children, were abducted in the attack on the district and its surroundings, where mostly Yazidi Kurds were living.

On October 13, 2015, Sinjar was recaptured from ISIS by YBŞ and Peshmerga forces with the support of the international coalition led by the United States.

Since the ISIS attack on Yazidis in Sinjar, YBŞ, established with the support of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has been targeted by the Turkish Armed Forces from time to time.

While Ankara wants the YBŞ, which it describes as the "branch of PKK operating in Sinjar," to be disbanded, the Baghdad government and the predominantly Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) see YBŞ as an "official armed force."(VC/PE)