Civilian killed in suspected Turkish airstrike on Sulaymaniyah village

SULAYMANIYAH — A civilian was killed in a suspected Turkish military airstrike Saturday night on the village of Galala in Sulaymaniyah’s Sharbazher area, officials said.

Galala village, nestled in mountainous terrain, is about 58 kilometers from Sulaymaniyah’s center and 17 kilometers east of the Mawat district.

Kamaran Mala Osman, a member of the U.S.-based Community Peacemaker Teams-Iraqi Kurdistan, told 964media that the civilian casualty occurred during an airstrike by Turkish warplanes targeting a residential house around 11:00 p.m.

The victim, identified as Mohammed Said Mohammed, was reportedly between 29 and 34 and a resident of Sulaymaniyah.

“The civilian had returned to his village for agricultural work when the strike happened, resulting in his death,” Osman said.

Kamran Hassan, the qaymaqam of Mawat, told 964media that the deceased was a civilian engaged in agricultural and horticultural activities in their village. The nature of the strike, whether by drone or manned fighter aircraft, remains unclear, but it was part of a night in which two other houses were also destroyed, though they were empty at the time.

The house where the civilian was killed is about 10 kilometers from the main village cluster.

CPT previously reported that Turkish military operations and airstrikes resulted in the deaths of 11 civilians and injuries to 13 others in 2023.

On Feb. 20, two civilians were killed following a Turkish airstrike in Kafia village south of Mount Gara, Duhok. Additionally, on March 8, two other civilians were killed by Turkish fighter jets in Dewike village north of Gara mountain.

Turkey regularly conducts airstrikes in the Kurdistan Region, citing the alleged presence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known by its Kurdish acronym PKK, which has been waging a war with Turkey for decades.

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