ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - One person was killed and another two were injured in a “Turkish” drone attack on the Makhmour Camp, housing Kurds from Turkey’s southeastern region, announced the Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism in a statement on Monday.

“According to information obtained by the Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism… At 9:45am on Monday, Turkish Army’s unmanned drones targeted a meeting base of the [Kurdistan Workers Party] PKK at the Makhmour Camp, killing one person and wounding another two individuals,” the Kurdistan CT said.

The Kurdish counterterrism added there are “PKK officials” among the killed and the wounded.

Neither Ankara nor the PKK have commented on the attack yet. 

The Makhmour Camp housing around 10,000 Kurdish refugees from Turkey was built in 1998 on the outskirts of Mount Qarachough, west of Makhmour and some 60 kilometers southwest of the Kurdistan Region capital city Erbil. The bulk of the camp residents fled the civil war between the Turkish army and the PKK in the 90s of the last century. 

Turkish drones from time to time bomb the camp on grounds of targeting PKK leaders and members.

The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) announced on Friday that in a similar drone attack on the refugee camp last week they killed Azad Akinci, head of the Makhmour Camp.

In a speech in 2021, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the camp as “an incubation center for terrorism."

Since mid-June, Turkey has intensified its aerial campaign against PKK members in Duhok province and recently in Sulaimani province.

Since the beginning of this month, Turkish drones have hit three vehicles in Sulaimani province’s vicinities, killing at least six people.  

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a human rights organization and conflict monitor has reported that in 2024 alone, Turkey has conducted over 800 attacks on northern Iraq, with civilians often bearing the brunt of the conflict.

In addition to its sporadic aerial attacks, Ankara has boots on the ground in parts of Iraq. The Turkish presidency in mid-August dismissed claims made by opposition parties in their country that they had allegedly agreed to withdraw their troops from Iraq in a meeting with Iraqi authorities in Ankara.

Iraq has over the past year entered into agreements with Turkey in banning the PKK in the country and dismantling political parties close to them.

The PKK is an armed group that has fought for increased Kurdish rights in Turkey for decades, the group, designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara, uses mountainous areas of the Kurdistan Region as shelter and often engages in direct armed conflict with Turkey.