Kurdish journalist Murat Mîrza has succumbed to injuries sustained in a suspected Turkish drone strike in the Shengal (Sinjar) region in Iraq's north.
Mîrza, a reporter for Çira FM, was critically wounded during the attack on July 8 and later passed away despite medical efforts at a hospital in Mosul.
The incident occurred when a vehicle traveling on the Sinjar-Mosul road was targeted by an armed drone. The strike rendered the vehicle inoperable and resulted in injuries to Mîrza, Çira TV reporter Medya Hasan, and their driver. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has said that Turkey was responsible for the strike while Ankara has remained silent. Turkey frequently carries out drone strikes in Iraq and Syria's north, as part of its military campaign against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
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According to regional sources, the journalists were returning from Tel Qasab (Tilqeseb), where they had been conducting interviews related to the tenth anniversary of the 2014 Ezidi massacre perpetrated by ISIS.
Following the attack, Hasan and the driver were taken to a hospital in Sinjar, where their conditions have been reported as improving. Mîrza, however, was transferred to Mosul due to the severity of his injuries.
Mîrza's body was returned to the Sikêniyê district in Sinjar after an autopsy. He was laid to rest at the Girê Gewr Cemetery. Colleagues from Çira FM, members of the Sinjar Autonomous Administration, and family members attended the funeral. Mîrza's friends placed his camera atop his grave. (HA/VK)
