Turkey's bombardment hits tourist spot, kills eight in Iraq's Kurdistan region, officials say

Still image from a Rudaw video showing the aftermanth of the bombardment.

At least eight civilians have been killed and 23 were injured in a bombardment by Turkey in the Duhok city in Iraq's Kurdistan region, local officials have said.

Several places in the Zakho district were targeted during the bombardment and the casualties were part of a group of Arab tourists, Rudaw reported, citing Chiya Amin, the head of the tourism directorate of Zakho.

Children were among the casualties caused by what appeared to be an artillery attack, the Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reported.

The mayor of Zakho, Muhsin Bashir, said Turkey bombarded the Perex village twice, targeting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members nearby, according to Rudaw.

Dilşer Abdulsettar, the head of the Derkar sub-district, told Rudaw that four artillery shells hit the village of Perex.

"Thirty-three families live in the Perex village. The village hadn't been targeted up until now," he said.

Turkey in mid-April launched a new military offensive in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) territory, dubbed as the "Operation Claw-Lock," targeting the PKK.

The latest one in a series of military operations targeting the PKK, the offensive focuses on the mountainous regions of Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan. (VK)