Turkey strikes positions in Iraq for third time since Ankara bombing
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Turkey launched on Wednesday airstrikes on positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraq just hours after it warned of conducting retaliation attacks in Syria and Iraq for a suicide bombing in Ankara early this week.
The Turkish Ministry of Defense said Turkish warplanes attacked 22 suspected PKK positions in northern Iraq, destroying caves, shelters and warehouses. This is the third attack that Turkey conducted in northern Iraq after the attack.
Following the suicide bombing, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, said, “As a result of the work of our security forces, it has become clear that the two terrorists came from Syria and were trained there.”
Fidan also threatened that his country reserved the right to strike a broader range of Kurdish targets in Syria and Iraq in retaliation for the attack.
“From now on, all infrastructure, large facilities and energy facilities belonging to (armed Kurdish groups) in Iraq and Syria are legitimate targets for our security forces,” he added.
On the other hand, Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, firmly dismissed the claims of Turkish officials that the assailants behind Ankara’s attack had received training in Syria.
Abdi said on social media platform X (Previously Twitter) that the attackers have not “passed through our region as Turkish officials claim, and we are not party to Turkey’s internal conflict nor we encourage escalation.”
Turkish forces carried out a series of raids and arrested dozens of people suspected of connections to the PKK across Turkey.