Turkish Airstrikes Against Kurds Extended Into Northern Iraq

Fact checked
Turkish Airstrikes Against Kurds Extended Into Northern Iraq

Turkey’s military have confirmed anti-Kurd airstrikes in Iraq.

Turkish jets have pounded suspected Kurdish rebels targets in a new cross-border raid in northern Iraq, according to the country’s state-run news agency.

Anadolu Agency reported that the planes struck targets of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in Iraq’s Gara region on Monday.

Antiwar reports:

The state media reported a series of cross-border airstrikes into the Gara region in northernmost Iraq, hitting targets which Turkey claimed were linked to the PKK.

It is not unusual for Turkey to make such claims in strikes against Iraq, though often the locals insist there was no PKK presence in targeted areas.

The PKK is primarily a faction within Turkey itself, where it is a major secessionist movement and considered a terrorist organization. To facilitate what were ultimately failed peace talks in recent years, a number of PKK forces were relocated across the border, into Iraq, and since the resumption of the war last year has made those areas targets.

Turkey claimed to have destroyed targets in northern Iraq, but there are so far not any casualty figures or any confirmations out of Iraq about what was hit. Generally speaking, neither the Iraqi government nor the Kurdistan Regional Government offer much more than token criticism of such strikes.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.