Drone strike kills one, injures another in border area of Penjwen, officials say

PENJWEN — A suspected drone strike targeted a vehicle near the village of Shewagwzan in Sulaymaniyah’s Penjwen district Saturday morning, killing one person and severely injuring another, local officials and human rights monitors told 964media.

The attack occurred around 8:45 a.m. near the Agha Orchard area in Germak, striking a pick-up truck carrying two individuals believed to be armed men of Kurdish ethnicity, according to Kamaran Osman, coordinator with the U.S.-based Community Peacemaker Teams–Iraqi Kurdistan.

The drone’s origin remains unknown. The area, located near the Kurdistan Region’s eastern border, has seen repeated cross-border military activity in recent years. In January 2022, Turkish forces carried out airstrikes in the same vicinity, targeting suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

Germak District Director Hakam Ziyad Abdullah confirmed the incident. “The drone targeted the Germak border area. One person was killed and another was seriously injured,” he said, adding that the identities of those struck have not yet been confirmed.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing, and no country has officially claimed responsibility for the strike.