Turkey launches airstrikes in Iraq, Syria after nine soldiers were killed

Turkey launched airstrikes on Friday night and Saturday on "terrorist targets" in northern Iraq and Syria following the killing of nine of its soldiers in an attack, as reported by the Turkish Ministry of Defense.

The ministry had announced early on Saturday the death of nine soldiers and the injury of four others in an attack on a Turkish military base in northern Iraq, increasing the previous toll, which had spoken of six soldiers killed.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense stated, "By our right to self-defense (...), aerial operations were carried out against terrorist targets in the regions of Metina, Hakurk, Gara, and Qandil."

The Turkish army claimed to have targeted "29 objectives consisting of caves, hideouts, shelters, and oil facilities" belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the People's Protection Units (YPG), both considered by Turkey as terrorist organizations.

The Turkish army regularly conducts ground and aerial operations against the fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in northern Iraq or in the Kurdistan Region, which enjoys autonomy, as well as in the Sinjar mountainous region. Turkish soldiers are frequently killed in the region.

In response to this violent attack on Turkish forces, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held an emergency security meeting in Istanbul on Saturday, attended by the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, and interior, as well as the chiefs of staff and intelligence.

The Turkish Minister of Interior, Ali Yerlikaya, announced on X the arrest of 113 individuals suspected of being affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which the Turkish army has been fighting since 1984. The arrests took place on Saturday in 32 out of 81 Turkish provinces.

AFP