Airwars assessment
Around 18:30 on the evening of Tuesday, February 20th, 2024, an alleged Turkish airstrike killed two elderly men and injured at least one other civilian in the village of Kafya, in the Dinatra area of Akre [Akri/Aqra] District of Duhok, northern Iraq.
The two victims were 65-year-old Bashir Omar and 70-year-old Arif Taha, residents of the villages of Garbish and Dawudiyah in the Nahla region. Kurdistan24 shared the images of the two men – one of them an elderly man with a receding hairline dressed in a white shirt, and another one with a mustache and wearing a kafya on his head.
Additionally, Kurdistan24 and Akhbaralaan reported one injured civilian as a result of the airstrike. Azzaman News and Al Jeebal mentioned instead that two civilians were injured.
Rudaw News shared a picture of the events, showing two bodies lying on the ground, covered with blankets. A group of men were rushing around the bodies while another illuminated the scene with an electric torch. According to the Al-Jabal Agency, the bodies of the two victims were still at the scene of the accident at the time of reporting, and the people were unable to transport them to the city due to the continuing bombing.
According to Rudaw News, the victims were among four citizens of the abandoned village had returned to tend their orchards.
All the sources identify the Turkish military as responsible for the attack.
The incident occured at approximately 6:30 pm local time.
The victims were named as: