The pair were working on their land near the village of Mawat when they were killed in a bombardment “likely carried out by Turkey,” the town’s mayor, Kamaran Hassan, told AFP.

A third person has been listed as missing, he said, adding that he could not specify whether a drone or warplane had launched the strike.

Turkey has repeatedly carried out strikes targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, where the group has bases.

Ankara stepped up its strikes in neighboring Syria following a Nov. 13 bombing in Istanbul that killed six people and wounded 81.

Ankara blamed that attack on the PKK, which it and much of the international community consider a terrorist group.

The PKK has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

Kurdish groups denied any involvement in the Ankara blast.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to launch a ground offensive against Kurds in northern and northeastern Syria in response to the Istanbul bombing.

Since 2016 Turkey’s military has conducted three offensives, mostly targeting Kurdish fighters, in Syria, and captured territory in northern Syria now held by Ankara-backed proxies.

There has been no immediate comment from Turkey about Friday’s bombardment.

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