Several individuals have been killed in a Turkish drone strike in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, including two journalists. Local authorities and news outlets in the region have confirmed the reports. According to an initial statement from the regional authorities, a vehicle belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was struck near the city of Sulaymaniyah, resulting in the deaths of a senior PKK officer, his bodyguard, and a driver.

However, Qubad Talabani, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, later stated that the attack hit a group of journalists, two of whom were killed. “They were two female journalists, not members of an armed force that posed a threat to the security and stability of any country or region,” Talabani said in a statement.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international press freedom organization, also condemned the killings of the two journalists, identified as 27-year-old Hero Baha’uddin and 40-year-old Golestan Tara from Sterk TV, a Kurdish media outlet. RSF noted that a third journalist from the same organization, Rebin Baker, was injured in the attack as they were traveling together. Jonathan Dagher, head of RSF’s office in the Middle East, pointed out that Friday’s attack followed another drone strike on July 8 that killed one journalist and injured another. “With three media professionals killed in just two months, the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan is becoming one of the most dangerous zones in the world for journalists,” Dagher stated.

Turkey has denied responsibility for the drone strike, according to the news agency AFP. However, the country regularly conducts operations in northern Iraq targeting the PKK, which Ankara considers a terrorist organization. Earlier on Friday, Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed it had “neutralized” 16 PKK members in parts of northern Iraq; however, Turkey’s Ministry of Defense stated that the attack in Sulaymaniyah was “not conducted by the Turkish military.”

Roj News, a local media outlet, reported that the two slain journalists were working for a Kurdish publication in the area. According to the outlet, six other journalists were also injured in the attack, with varying degrees of severity. “The killings were unjust, violated all international laws and norms, and constituted a clear infringement on the country’s sovereignty,” added Talabani in his statement.

Karouan Anwar, head of the journalists’ union in Sulaymaniyah, remarked that those killed were “well-known for their work in journalism and media.” Earlier this week, RSF released a report expressing concern over what it termed a “rise in violence” against media workers in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. The RSF report pointed out that “various actors” have committed abuses against press freedom, with the upcoming October elections between pro- and anti-Turkish factions contributing to rising tensions.

“Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan must be able to work in complete safety at a time when political rivalries are at their height,” Dagher stated in the report. The PKK, which began an armed insurgency against Turkey in the 1980s in an effort to achieve a Kurdish state, has bases in northern Iraq. The group has since moderated its demands, but Turkey views PKK installations as a national security threat and has consistently conducted operations targeting the group’s infrastructure in the Kurdish region.