An attack by an unmanned combat aerial vehicle of the Turkish state on Friday evening claimed the life of one of the commanders of the Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ) in the village of Rezka in the Yazidi town of Shengal (Sinjar) in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).

Led by the Autonomous Administration, all institutions and organizations in Shengal condemned the increasingly ongoing airstrikes of the Turkish state against the region and held Iraq responsible for the attacks.

The Shengal Autonomous Administration, joined by the General People's Assembly of Shengal, the Free Yazidi Women's Movement (TAJÊ) and the Êzidxan Youth Movement, issued a statement on Friday’s attack by the occupying Turkish state against the YBŞ fighters. The statement was read by Riham Hasan, Co-Chair of the Shengal Autonomous Administration Assembly.

"On an important day like March 8, a brutal attack was carried out against our people. YBŞ is our defense force, and we will stand by them until the end. The occupying Turkish state cannot carry out these attacks without the approval of Iraq. Iraq is responsible for these attacks."

"The Turkish state is carrying out the attacks with the help of the KDP," the statement said and added, "If Iraq does not open its airspace to the Turkish state, Turkish warplanes cannot fly in the region."

"Yazidis are no longer afraid," the statement underlined.

On behalf of TAJÊ Coordination, Dayê Neam Bedel said, "No matter what they do, they will not be able to make us give up our cause."

The statement ended with the slogans 'Bijî YBŞ' (Long Live YBŞ) and 'Bijî Rêber Apo' (Long Live Leader Abdullah Öcalan).