Turkey hits US-allied Kurds in Syria, Iraq following terrorist attack on defense group
NATO member Turkey on Thursday carried out a second day of aerial attacks on what it said are Kurdish militant positions in Iraq and Syria, following a terrorist attack on a state-run defense agency this week in which five people were killed.
Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization reportedly targeted numerous “strategic locations” allegedly used by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – which was deemed a terrorist organization in the U.S. in 1997 – as well as targets used by Syrian Kurdish militia affiliated with the militant group.
Armed drones were used to hit military, intelligence, energy and infrastructure facilities and ammunition depots, The Associated Press reported.
Smoke rises as emergency rescue teams and police officers attend outside Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. on the outskirts of Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (IHA via AP)
EXPLOSION AT TURKISH AEROSPACE FACILITY RULED A TERROR ATTACK
However, according to General Commander Mazloum Abdi of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who is Kurdish, the Turkish attacks have been “indiscriminate” and have targeted civilian areas and health centers.
“Turkey indiscriminately and unjustifiably bombards our areas, targeting civilian, service, and health centers,” he said in a message posted to X. “This is a war crime.
“We have repeatedly shown our readiness for dialogue. Meanwhile, we affirm that our forces are ready to defend our people and land,” he added.
In a statement released by the SDF on Thursday, 12 people were killed during Turkey’s aerial bombardment, including two children, and 25 others were wounded.
“In addition to populated areas, Turkish warplanes and UAVs targeted bakeries, power stations, oil facilities, and Internal Security Force checkpoints. These essential civic facilities were among the 42 civic sites struck by Turkish artillery shelling,” the statement said.
It is unclear if any casualties have been confirmed in Iraq. One source on the ground in the region hit, who heard fighter jets and “loud explosions,” told Fox News Digital that the mountainous area that was bombed had already largely been depopulated due to previous Turkish military operations there.
Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the State Department for comment in response to the attacks and civilian deaths reported by the SDF – who have long stood as allies to the U.S. in the war against ISIS.
Syrian Kurdish security forces stand by as former detainees suspected of being members of the Islamic State group are released in Syria’s northeastern city of Hasakeh on Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
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Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said that 47 alleged PKK targets were destroyed in Wednesday’s airstrikes, including 29 in Iraq and 18 in Syria.
“Our noble nation should rest assured that we will continue with increasing determination our struggle to eliminate the evil forces that threaten the security and peace of our country and people, until the last terrorist disappears from this geography,” Guler said.
The strikes in Iraq and Syria began Wednesday after two suspected Kurdish assailants carried out an attack on an aerospace and defense company, dubbed TUSAS, in the Turkish capital of Ankara earlier that day.
A man and a woman reportedly arrived at the TUSAS premises armed with assault rifles in a taxi they stole after killing the driver.
They then set off explosives and opened fire, killing five people and injuring another 22 before they themselves were killed by responding security forces, in what Turkish officials have deemed a “terrorist attack.”
In this image taken from security camera video shows two people with guns and backpacks during an attack on the premises of the Turkish state-run aerospace and defense company, TUSAS, on the outskirts of Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday Oct. 23, 2024. (Validated UGC via AP)
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The PKK does not appear to have yet claimed credit for the attack.
The U.S. Embassy in Turkey on Wednesday said Washington “strongly condemns” the “terrorist attack.”
The Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., could not immediately be reached for comment by Fox News Digital.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
