One person was killed and two others were injured yesterday Monday in Iraq, in a shelling by “the Turkish army” against a camp for displaced people, according to the anti-terrorist service of the autonomous Kurdistan region, which assured that among the victims was an official of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

For decades, the war between Turkey and the Kurdish separatist rebels of the PKK, a movement labeled a “terrorist” organization by Ankara and its Western allies, has spread to northern Iraq. Both sides have military installations and rear bases there, mainly in the region of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region.

The bombing, which was launched yesterday morning, targeted a “meeting place (of members) of the PKK in Mahmour camp”, in northern Iraq, in an area claimed by the federal government in Baghdad and autonomous Kurdistan.

According to an announcement by the Kurdistan Anti-Terrorism Service, the strike, carried out by a “Turkish army drone”, resulted in “one person being killed and two others injured”, while among the victims was “an executive of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party”. The text does not specify whether this “executive” was killed or injured.

Considered by Ankara as a PKK stronghold, often targeted by the Turkish armed forces, the Mahmour camp is located in Nineveh province, about 60 kilometers southwest of Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Historically, the people living in it are residents of southern Turkey who were forced to leave their place in the 1990s and found refuge on the other side of the border, in northern Iraq.

The camp accommodates over 10,000 people; it has its own self-government, as well as its own — armed — security force. However, as of late 2023, security around the camp is guaranteed by Iraqi federal forces.

At the same time, two Kurdish fighters were killed yesterday in clashes with Turkish forces in Dohuk, about 40 kilometers south of the Turkey-Iraq border, sources close to the Iraqi security forces said. The clashes unfolded in the area where Mount Gara is located, where separatist bases are known to be located and other Turkish operations have taken place in the last two months.

In general, Ankara only confirms some of the bombings and ground operations it launches in Iraqi territory against the PKK, sometimes causing friction in relations with Baghdad and Erbil.

After months of pressure from the Turkish government on the Iraqi government to adopt a much tougher stance against the PKK, Baghdad this year — discretely — labeled the movement a “banned organization.”

In mid-August, Turkey and Iraq signed a bilateral military cooperation agreement, which notably provides for the creation of joint command and training centers in the fight against the PKK.

For a long time, Baghdad and Arbil have been accused of turning a blind eye to violations of their sovereignty by the Turkish armed forces in order not to disrupt their strategic alliance with Turkey, an essential trading partner.