Turkey carried out airstrikes towards Kurdish militants in neighboring Syria and Iraq in response to a different assault on Turkish navy bases in Iraq.
Turkish jets destroyed 29 bunkers, shelters, caves and oil services throughout the Metina, Hakurk, Gara and Qandil areas in northern Iraq and northern Syria, in response to Turkey’s protection ministry. The ministry mentioned the websites belonged to the outlawed Kurdistan Employees’ Social gathering (PKK) and the Folks’s Safety Models (YPG), a Syrian-Kurdish group on the forefront of the U.S.-led coalition towards Islamic State (ISIS).
Turkey considers each the PKK and YPG to be terrorist organizations and commonly bombs their enclaves in Syria and Iraq. The most recent assault got here hours after PKK fighters assaulted a Turkish military base in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish area on Friday. The militant group killed 9 Turkish troopers and wounded one other 4, shedding 15 of its males within the course of, in response to the protection ministry.
“We are going to struggle to the top towards the PKK terrorist group inside and out of doors our borders,” Turkish Overseas Minister Hakan Fidan, mentioned on Saturday, providing his condolences to the troopers’ households.
The Turkish navy has been current in northern Iraq since April 2022, as a part of Operation Claw-Lock. The mission goals to dismantle the PKK’s foothold there and stop it from launching cross-border guerrilla raids into Turkey. However Ankara has struggled to guard its bases, with lethal assaults now occurring each few weeks.
The Iraqi authorities in Baghdad has repeatedly referred to as for Ankara’s withdrawal, however Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed to remain till the mission is full.