An UCAV of the occupying Turkish state targeted a vehicle belonging to the media company Chatr Production carrying Kurdish journalists in the Said Sadiq district of Sulaymaniyah on Friday. Journalist Hêro Bahadîn and Gulistan Tara were martyred in the attack, while Chatr Production Supervisor Rêbîn Bekir (30) was wounded. All three journalists worked for Chatr Multimedia Production Company.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic August 23 drone strike that killed two journalists and injured a third in Iraqi Kurdistan,” said Yeganeh Rezaian, the CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists) interim MENA program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Turkish authorities should swiftly investigate this attack and determine if the reporting team was targeted for their work.”

Rebin Bakir, an Iraqi video editor and social media officer injured in the August 23 attack, is in stable condition after treatment at Shar Hospital in Sulaymaniyah for broken legs and hands, according to Hawzhin Shwan, a Sterk TV reporter and anchor, who spoke to CPJ.

The three were on a reporting mission in an unmarked car along the Sulaymaniyah-Halabja road near the village of Goptapa when they were hit, Kamal Hamaraza, head of Chatr Multimedia Production Company, told CPJ, adding that they were journalists “with no direct or indirect connection to politics or military activities.”

“We have faced ongoing threats from Turkish attacks due to our consistent coverage of their operations and violations in the Kurdistan region,” Hamaraza said.

Salam Abdulkhaliq, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region Security Agency, told CPJ that the agency “will publish publicly if they issue anything.” 

CPJ stated that their email requesting comment from the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations did not receive a response.