Unknown aircraft bombs headquarters of Yazidi militia in northern Iraq

Source: Xinhua| 2019-11-20 18:59:07|Editor: xuxin
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BAGHDAD, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- An unidentified aircraft on Wednesday bombarded the headquarters of a Yazidi militia affiliated with the Turkish outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, leaving 20 militiamen killed and wounded, the Iraqi military said.

A statement by the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said the unknown plane conducted an airstrike on the headquarters of the Sinjar Protection Units (YBS), also known as Shingal (Sinjar) Resistance Units, in Khana Sor area near the town of Sinjar, some 100 km west of Iraq's northern city of Mosul.

The airstrike totally destroyed the headquarters, killing and wounding 20 of the YBS fighters, the statement said without giving further details.

The YBS is a Yazidi militia formed in Iraq in 2007 to protect the Yazidi community in Iraq, the group is operating in concert with People's Defense Forces (HPG), which is the military wing of the PKK.

The PKK is seen by Turkey as a "terrorist" group, and the Turkish forces frequently carry out ground operations, airstrikes and artillery bombardment against the positions in northern Iraq, especially the Qandil Mountains, the main base of the PKK.

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