An armed drone of the invading Turkish state struck a house in the Khanasor (Xanesor) town of Shengal on Tuesday noon.

According to the information RojNews obtained from the Shengal Autonomous Administration and people’s assemblies, the Turkish drone hit an empty house under construction. Other houses close to the scene were also damaged in the attack.

A security delegation consisting of members of the Iraqi army, police and National Asayish (Public Security) launched an investigation after visiting the scene of the drone attack.

Authorities have not made an official statement yet as the investigation continues.

Heci Kuli, a member of the Khanasor People's Assembly, told RojNews: “Khanasor was deliberately targeted. This is clearly an attack directed against the return of the displaced residents. The most appropriate response to the attack will be the return of our people to Shengal. We call on our people to respond to these attacks by returning to their land.”

Xwedêda Çukê, one of the administrators of Sinunê Subdistrict, said: “Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani came to Shengal to take initiatives for the implementation of the October 9 Agreement. Faced with the will of the people, he realized that the agreement could not be implemented. That's why attacks have started again. Despite all attacks, our people continue to return to their land.”

Background

The Yazidi town of Shengal (Sinjar), which was subjected to genocide by ISIS mercenaries on August 3, 2014, was liberated on November 13, 2015, after months of resistance led by HPG guerrillas and Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ). The people of Shengal formed their self-defence and self-government as the greatest response to further massacres and betrayal in Shengal.

Having declared its Democratic Autonomous Administration, Shengal became the target of both the Turkish state and South Kurdistan’s ruling party, KDP. While armed groups affiliated with the KDP and the Turkish army launched attacks in 2017, the central Iraqi government also resorted to various methods to eliminate the autonomy in Shengal.

The Turkish state has recently taken action for further massacres in Shengal. YBŞ commanders Pîr Çeko and Agir Cefri were killed on February 27, and Yazidi Public Security Executive Member Şêrzad Şemo Kasım was killed on March 1 by Turkish air strikes. These attacks by the Turkish state took place right after an operation by the YBŞ and Shengal Asayish against MIT (Turkish intelligence service) agents deployed to Shengal by the KDP. Two MIT agents, named Seed Casim Mirad and Selah Berces were captured during the operations of the Shengal security forces, which were carried out on February 24 and dubbed "Revenge Operations".

The attacks of KDP-affiliated mercenaries and Turkish state forces against Shengal have continued uninterruptedly since 2017.