ISLAMABAD: A top commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces was among 9 fighters killed when 2 helicopters crashed in Iraq earlier this week, the group said on Friday.
The SDF, which controls most of the NE, has been a major ally of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and neighboring Iraq.
Two helicopters carrying SDF counter-terrorism units to Sulaymaniyah, in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, on Wednesday evening had crashed as a result of bad weather, leading to the death of 9 of “our fighters”, the group said in a statement.
Fighters were headed to Iraqi Kurdistan region
Among the dead was SDF’s commander Shervan Kobani who is a cousin of SDF leader Mazloum Abdi.
The SDF said the team was on its way to Iraqi Kurdistan to exchange military and security expertise.
Its statement did not say give details of the crash.
Authorities of the Iraqi Kurdistan region said Thursday that 5 people were killed when 1 helicopter came down in Dohuk province.
Lawk Ghafuri, the regional government’s head of foreign media ties, started that initial findings suggested a number of the dead were members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). PKK is a rebel group that has been fighting the Turkish army since 1984.
Both Turkey and its Western allies have blacklisted the PKK as a terrorist group.
