ISTANBUL: Turkish warplanes destroyed at least 18 targets belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq over the weekend, the state-run Anadolu news agency said on Sunday.
The strikes, carried out on Saturday and Sunday, targeted the Hakurk, Zap, Metina, Gara and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq, Anadolu said, citing the Turkish military.
Turkey regularly carries out airstrikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq, where the group is based in the Qandil mountains.
The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by the US, the EU and Turkey, has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast that has killed some 40,000 people.
Turkey in January launched a separate military operation in northern Syria’s Afrin region to sweep Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters from its southern border. Turkey considers the YPG an extension of the PKK.
US support for the YPG in the fight against Daesh in Syria has strained ties between Ankara and Washington, both members of the NATO military alliance.
On Thursday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying that Turkey and Iraq’s central government in Baghdad will carry out a joint operation against Kurdish militants in Iraq.
Cavusoglu was quoted as saying the joint cross-border operation with Iraq may start after Iraq holds parliamentary elections scheduled for May 2018, signaling Turkish troops may move to northern Iraq following the ongoing offensive.
Turkish warplanes ‘destroy 18 Kurdish militant targets in Iraq’
Turkish warplanes ‘destroy 18 Kurdish militant targets in Iraq’
US to deploy more troops to Middle East as Iran operations continue
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine acknowledged that four US service members have been killed so far
WASHINGTON: The US will send additional troops and military assets to the Middle East as operations against Iran continue, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said on Monday.
Speaking at the Pentagon alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Caine stressed that the campaign, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” remains ongoing and will not be concluded quickly.
“This is not a single overnight operation. The military objectives that (US Central Command) CENTCOM and the joint force have been tasked with will take some time to achieve, and, in some cases, will be difficult and gritty work,” Caine said.
He acknowledged that four US service members have been killed so far and cautioned that further casualties are expected as the campaign continues.
“We expect to take additional losses, and as always, we will work to minimize US losses. But as the Secretary (of Defense Hegseth) said, this is major combat operations,” Caine added.
Caine confirmed that more forces are already heading to the region.
“In fact, Admiral Cooper will receive additional forces even today,” he said, referring to Brad Cooper, US CENTCOM chief.
He described the rapid military buildup as evidence of the US Armed Forces’ ability to adjust quickly and project power “at the time and place of our nation’s choosing.”
