ANKARA, TR – Following a deadly attack on a Turkish military base in Iraq, Turkey’s Defense Ministry has confirmed a series of retaliatory airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on Saturday. These strikes were specifically targeted at bases of Kurdish militants in the northern regions of Iraq, namely Metina, Hakurk, Gara, and Qandil.
The defense ministry’s statement elaborated on the destruction of militant infrastructure, including caves, bunkers, shelters, and oil facilities, as a preemptive measure against potential terrorist attacks on Turkish citizens and security forces. However, no specific strikes in Syria were mentioned.
The airstrikes were focused on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group that operates from northern Iraq. The PKK is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and several of Turkey’s European allies.
According to local news reports, the airstrikes were conducted in a different region from where the military base was attacked on Friday. As per Rudaw, an Iraqi news website, the attacked base was located on Mount Zap in the Amedi district, approximately 10 miles from the Turkish border.
Anadolu, Turkey’s state-run news agency, reported that a senior PKK militant was neutralized in Iraq, about 100 miles within the Turkey-Iraq border. The Defense Ministry also confirmed that Friday night’s attack on the military base in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region resulted in the death of five soldiers. Four more soldiers later died from their injuries, and fifteen militants were killed during the assault.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, expressing his condolences for the fallen soldiers on social media platform X, pledged to continue the battle against the PKK, both within and outside Turkey’s borders.
In a previous incident, PKK-affiliated militants attempted to breach a Turkish base in northern Iraq, leading to the death of six soldiers. The following day, six more soldiers were killed in clashes. In response, the Turkish military launched airstrikes and land assaults, leaving dozens of Kurdish militants dead, as reported by Defense Minister Yasar Guler.
The Middle East has been a hotbed of tension since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October.