Türkiye launches airstrikes in Iraq, Syria after 9 soldiers killed

The Turkish Defense Ministry carried out the airstrikes after nine Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes following an attempted incursion into a military base near the northern Iraqi city of Metina, according to AFP.

"Air operations were carried out against terrorist targets in the areas of Metina, Hakurk, Gara and Qandil," the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.

According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, the airstrikes targeted 29 sites including “caves, bunkers and oil storage facilities” belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG). The YPG is a Syrian Kurdish militia that is a central part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS).

Smoke rises after a Turkish shelling of the Syrian town of Ras al Ain on October 13, 2019.

There is currently no information about the reaction of Iraq and Syria to the above statement of the Turkish Ministry of Defense.

Turkey has operated dozens of military posts in the region over the past 25 years in its fight against the PKK, a group listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and many of its Western allies.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to hold an emergency security meeting on January 13 in Istanbul to discuss the increase in attacks targeting Turkish soldiers in the region.

Meanwhile, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on social network X that 113 people were arrested on suspicion of having links to the PKK in raids in the country, according to AFP.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/tho-nhi-ky-khong-kich-iraq-syria-sau-khi-9-binh-si-thiet-mang-185240113155744884.htm