IRBIL: Three members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were killed Thursday in a Turkish drone strike in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, authorities said, as Ankara’s top diplomat visited the northern region.
“A Turkish army drone struck a PKK vehicle, killing an official and two fighters” of the group — considered a terrorist organization by Turkiye and Western countries — in the Sidakan district, the Kurdish counter-terrorism services said.
It came as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was visiting the Iraqi Kurdish regional capital Irbil after he began on Tuesday his first official trip to Iraq.
Fidan met with the Kurdistan region’s president Nechirvan Barzani and prime minister Masrour Barzani, amid calls by Ankara for Baghdad to label the PKK a terrorist organization.
“We have settled this question in Turkiye once and for all. Now the PKK is hiding in Iraqi territory. We are working with Baghdad and Irbil to protect Iraq from the PKK,” Fidan said at a joint news conference with Masrour Barzani.
On Tuesday Fidan had urged the federal government in Baghdad to brand the PKK a “terrorist” organization.
Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region has long been a target of Turkish air and ground operations against the PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against Ankara.
The Turkish military rarely comments on individual strikes in northern Iraq.
Both the Kurdish authorities in Irbil and the federal government in Baghdad have long been accused of not doing enough to stop Turkiye’s frequent resort to military action on Iraqi soil in its nearly four-decade struggle against the PKK.
Statements condemning the violation of Iraqi sovereignty are periodically issued, particularly when there are civilian casualties.
But critics say both Irbil and Baghdad are more concerned with protecting trade and investment ties with Ankara.
On July 25, the office of Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani announced a forthcoming visit to Iraq by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but a date has yet to be set.
Three PKK members killed in Turkish drone strike in Iraq: Authorities
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Three PKK members killed in Turkish drone strike in Iraq: Authorities
- Announcement came as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was visiting the Iraqi Kurdish regional capital Irbil
EU, UK call on Israel to stop settler attacks on Palestinians in West Bank
- Israeli human rights group: ‘These criminal and deadly attacks are carried out with the backing of the state’
- EU spokesperson: ‘Impunity for such acts risks provoking further violence’
LONDON: Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank must cease attacks on local Palestinians, Western politicians have said.
The UK and EU both condemned the rise in settler violence since the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Iran on Feb. 28.
Six Palestinians have been killed by settlers in the 12 days since the start of the war, according to the UN.
Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said it had recorded 109 separate incidents of violence committed by settlers at 62 sites in the West Bank during the war’s opening 10 days. Both the UK and EU urged Israeli authorities to halt further attacks.
Three Palestinians died on Sunday in the village of Khirbet Abu Falah after armed settlers attacked it with guns before dawn, Reuters reported.
Palestinian health authorities said local residents Thaer Hamayel, 24, and his cousin, Farea Hamayel, 57, both died after being shot in the head.
A third man, Mohammed Murra, 55, died after going into cardiac arrest, having inhaled tear gas fired by the Israeli military.
The previous day, 28-year-old Amir Shanaran died after being shot by settlers at Wadi Al-Rakhim, local health authorities said. His brother Khaled Shanaran was seriously wounded.
On March 2, Mohammed Azem, 51, and his brother Fahim, 47, were shot dead by settlers at Qaryut, Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said.
In a statement, Yesh Din said: “These criminal and deadly attacks are carried out with the backing of the state and almost complete impunity, advancing Israel’s objective of forcibly displacing Palestinians and annexing the West Bank.”
Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein Al-Sheikh on Sunday denounced the “major escalation of settler terrorism.”
An EU spokesperson said “impunity for such acts risks provoking further violence,” and called on Israel to “abide by its obligations under international law to protect the Palestinian population in the occupied territory.”
The UK’s consulate-general in Jerusalem said in a statement that the Israeli military must respond to settler violence with “swift, thorough investigations and accountability for those responsible,” adding: “Settler violence which terrorises communities must be stop
