Turkish drone strikes kill two PKK militants in northern Iraq

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Aug 2023 23:58

The drone strikes hit PKK vehicles in Sulaymaniyah, killing and injuring at least 6 militants.

A T Aksungur, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), is displayed during the International Paris Air Show at the Paris Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France on June 20, 2023. (AFP)

Two Turkish drone strikes on Iraq's Kurdistan region killed two militants of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), Kurdish officials said on Wednesday.

The initial strike hit a vehicle belonging to the PKK near the village of Jalala in the province of Sulaimaniyah, killing a PKK "intelligence official" and injuring two other members of the group, according to the Kurdish counter-terrorism service.

The second strike targeted another vehicle carrying PKK militants near the village of Qalaa, killing a PKK member and injuring two others, authorities added.

The attack followed a strike on Sunday that led to the death of a PKK military official, the security service said earlier.

In late June, the US was reported to have struck a secret agreement with the Iraqi Kurdistan region to supply it with groundbreaking air defense systems without Baghdad's approval, angering Iraq's central government and raising concerns in Iran, the Tehran Times reported.

The United States House of Representatives presented a bipartisan bill to provide Kurdish Peshmerga, the security arm in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, with air defense systems as the US pushes to create heated zones near the Iranian borders under the pretext of protecting its allies from alleged "threats" from Iran.

The bill highlighted the role that Turkey plays in northern Iraq and considered a threat that the systems would look to deal with. Although targeting the Peshmarga is not an announced objective of the Turkish military in Iraq, Turkey regularly carries out strikes against the PKK, which it considers to be a terrorist organization.