Zakho resort attack

Zakho resort attack
Part of Operation Claw-Lock
LocationZakho District, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Date11:16, 20 July 2022 (2022-07-20T11:16)  –
11:30, 20 July 2022 (2022-07-20T11:30)  (2 years, 4 months, 2 weeks and 3 days ago)
Attack type
Artillery strikes
Deaths9 (including 2 children)
Injured33
VictimsVacationing tourists
PerpetratorsTurkey (Iraqi and Kurdish claim)
PKK (Turkish claim)

On 20 July 2022, the Barakh tourist resort in the Zakho District of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was shelled with four or five artillery strikes. The attack killed nine civilians, including two children,[1][2] and injured 33 others.[3]

The Iraqi federal government and Kurdish authorities claim that Turkish Armed Forces was behind the attack,[4][5] while the Turkish government denied this and suspected PKK to be responsible.[6][7][8] The Iraqi Foreign Minister claimed that the PKK was not in the area at the time of the attack and that it was Turkey that attacked.[9]

All of the victims were Arab tourists from central and southern parts of Iraq.[10]

  1. ^ AFP. "Five Iraqis killed in shelling officials blame on Turkey". www.timesofisrael.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Eight killed in northern Iraq in shelling blamed on Turkey". France 24. 20 July 2022. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Al-Sahhaf: Iraq's speech in the Security Council was the first of its kind in 40 years".
  4. ^ "Angry Iraq mourns dead from shelling blamed on Turkey". France 24. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Turkey Strikes Iraq Resort, Killing at Least 8, Officials Say". New York Times. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  6. ^ al-Salhy, Suadad (22 July 2022). "Iraqi sources say a Turkish howitzer hit the Zakho resort. Ankara asks 'Where's the proof?'". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Turkey rejects responsibility for attack on Iraq's Dohuk that killed eight". Reuters. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Kuzey Irak'ta saldırı: Türkiye PKK'yı işaret etti, Bağdat Ankara'yı suçladı". Euronews (in Turkish). 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  9. ^ "د. فوئاد حوسێن بۆ رووداو: لە ئەنجوومەنی ئاسایشی نەتەوەیەکگرتووەکان سکاڵامان تۆمارکرد". www.rudaw.net. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Zakho mayor: All the victims of the bombing were tourists from central and southern Iraq".