Turkey begins fresh offensive in Iraq

Published April 19, 2022
Turkish soldiers conduct military exercises near the Habur crossing gate between Turkey and Iraq.—AFP/File
Turkish soldiers conduct military exercises near the Habur crossing gate between Turkey and Iraq.—AFP/File

ISTANBUL: Turkey on Monday said it has launched a new air and ground offensive against outlawed Kurdish militants in northern Iraq involving special forces and combat drones.

Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said commando units, unmanned aerial vehicles and attack helicopters were pounding Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) hideouts in three restive regions near the Turkish border.

Designated as a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies, the PKK has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Turkey routinely carries out attacks in Iraq, where the PKK has bases and training camps in the Sinjar region and on the mountainous border with Turkey.

“Our heroic pilots successfully struck shelters, caves, tunnels and ammunition depots belonging to the terrorist organisation,” Akar said.

“A large number of terrorists were neutralised,” he said, adding that the scale of the operation will “further increase in the coming hours and days”.

Akar would not say how many troops were involved in the operation, which he said started on Sunday night.

Asked to comment on Turkey’s operation, a PKK spokesman in Iraq said on condition of anonymity: “The occupation army, which tried to land troops by helicopters, also wanted to advance by land.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2022

Opinion

Editorial

IHK resolution
Updated 08 Nov, 2024

IHK resolution

If the BJP administration were to listen to Kashmiris, it could pave the way for the resumption of the political process in IHK.
Climate realities
08 Nov, 2024

Climate realities

THE Air Quality Index in Lahore once again shot past the 1,000-level mark on Wednesday morning, registering at an...
Rule by fear
08 Nov, 2024

Rule by fear

THE abduction of an opposition MNA, as claimed by PTI, is yet another grim episode in Pakistan’s ongoing crisis of...
Trump 2.0
Updated 07 Nov, 2024

Trump 2.0

It remains to be seen how his promises to bring ‘peace’ to Middle East reconcile with his blatantly pro-Israel bias.
Fait accompli
07 Nov, 2024

Fait accompli

A SLEW of secretively conceived and hastily enacted legislation has achieved its intended result: the powers of the...
IPP contracts
07 Nov, 2024

IPP contracts

THE government expects the ongoing ‘negotiations’ with power producers aimed at revising the terms of sovereign...