Turkish military base in Iraq targeted with suicide drones for first time.
ERBIL, KRG, Syria (North Press) – Iraqi media outlets said Saturday night that a Turkish military base located in Bashiqa, a town northeast of Mosul in northern Iraq, was targeted with Katyusha rockets and suicide drones.
The Turkish base, also called Camp Zlikan, is repeatedly subjected to rocket attacks.
An armed faction calling itself Ahrar Sinjar claimed responsibility for the attack. The group stated on social media that it had targeted the base with Katyusha rockets and suicide drones, marking the first use of drones in targeting this base.
Drones have never been used against this base which has been a bone of contention between Ankara and Baghdad since 2016.
No official statement has been released regarding the number of casualties.
Turkey said that the goal of establishing the base in 2015 was to participate in the operations against the Islamic State Organization (ISIS), but Iraq denied its participation.
However, Turkey kept the base with the aim of targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which Turkey deems as a terrorist group and a national security threat.
In addition to air and ground attacks along the northern border of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), Turkey launches frequent attacks on the Sinjar, Makhmur and Sulaymaniyah regions.
The last two attacks took place Saturday, when Turkey launched a drone attack on Makhmur camp in Nineveh Governorate and another in an agricultural area in the Chamchamal District in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, causing civilian casualties.