IRBIL: Ten fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were killed, Iraqi Kurdish authorities said Thursday, as Turkiye said it launched renewed air strikes on northern Iraq.
Turkiye has intensified its cross-border air raids against Kurdish targets in northeastern Syria and northern Iraq in retaliation for an October 1 suicide bombing in Ankara which injured two policemen.
That attack was claimed by a branch of the outlawed PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkiye and is considered a “terrorist” group by Ankara and its Western allies.
“Nine PKK fighters were killed in a series of air strikes launched by Turkish warplanes and drones” in Irbil province in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, the Kurdish counter-terrorism service said in a statement.
A tenth PKK member was killed and three others wounded in “the bombing of several locations” belonging to the group in Dohuk province, it added.
Turkiye’s defense ministry on Thursday confirmed conducting air strikes on targets in five areas of northern Iraq, saying “many terrorists were neutralized.”
“A total of 19 targets including caves, shelters and depots used by terrorists.. were successfully destroyed and many terrorists were neutralized,” it said of the strikes which were carried out on Wednesday.
The Turkish military rarely comments on its operations in Iraq but it frequently carries out ground and air offensives against the PKK and its positions in northern Iraq.
Earlier this month, Turkiye’s parliament extended the military’s authorization to launch cross-border operations in Syria and Iraq by two more years.
Such operations were first approved in 2013 to support the international campaign against the Daesh group, and have since been renewed annually.
Over the past 25 years, Turkiye has installed dozens of military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan to fight against the PKK, which also has outposts there.
The Iraqi federal government in Baghdad and Kurdish authorities in Irbil have for years been accused of turning a blind eye to the Turkish bombardments to preserve their strategic alliance with Ankara, a key trading partner, despite statements protesting violations of Iraqi sovereignty and harm to civilians.
In summer 2022, nine people died when artillery shells hit a recreational park in the Iraqi Kurdish border village of Parakh, with most of those killed holidaymakers from southern Iraq.
Baghdad blamed Turkiye for the strike but Ankara denied responsibility and pointed the finger at the PKK.
In late July, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani’s office announced that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would visit Iraq but so far, no date has been set.
10 PKK fighters killed as Turkiye strikes northern Iraq
https://arab.news/r3bjw
10 PKK fighters killed as Turkiye strikes northern Iraq
- Turkiye has intensified its cross-border air raids against Kurdish targets in northeastern Syria and northern Iraq
Aleppo Citadel is a witness to the city’s great history and legacy
- Parts of military fortress date back nearly 2 millennia
- Historian Abdullah Hajjar provides an extensive study
DAMASCUS: Towering above the old city, the Aleppo Citadel has stood for centuries as both a military stronghold and symbol of the location’s layered history.
After years of closure, neglect, and damage during the war, the Aleppo Citadel reopened to visitors on Sept. 27 following months of restoration.
The site has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage landmark since 1986.
Rising around 38 meters above its surroundings, the fortress has played a central role in Aleppo’s political, military, and urban development.
Surrounded by a deep defensive moat, the citadel reflects advanced military engineering.
According to historian Abdullah Hajjar in his book “Archaeological Landmarks of Aleppo,” first published in 2010, the moat was excavated and reinforced during the reign of Ayyubid ruler Al-Zahir Ghazi.
At times it was 22 meters deep and about 30 meters wide, and filled with water to strengthen defenses.
Parts of the citadel date back nearly two millennia.
The lower section of its main entrance originates from the third century A.D., while the upper additions were made in the 15th century. Most of the towers and walls were built or expanded between the 13th and 16th centuries.
The citadel has repeatedly been damaged and rebuilt over the centuries. It was destroyed by the Sassanids in 540 A.D., but later restored.
Inside its walls, the citadel contains mosques, military structures, and residential buildings, offering a rare glimpse into daily life within a medieval fortress.
Among its landmarks are the Ibrahim Al-Khalil Mosque, the Great Mosque, defensive towers, barracks, and several historic houses.
Archaeological excavations have uncovered remains from multiple eras. This includes a ninth-century B.C. temple, Roman and Byzantine sarcophagi, and water cisterns dating to the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian, who rebuilt Aleppo’s fortifications in the sixth century against Persian invaders.
The citadel flourished during the Mamluk period, when it was restored by Sultan Baybars after the 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut.
Later inscriptions document victories by Mamluk rulers over Crusader and Mongol forces.
Under Ottoman rule, following the Battle of Marj Dabiq in 1516, the fortress gradually lost its military role and became an administrative and residential site.
The book outlines the various stages of restoration of the Aleppo Citadel over the centuries.
It highlights that Al-Zahir Ghazi, son of Saladdine Ayyubi, excavated the moat, reinforced the entrance with three wrought-iron gates, and built a large mosque within the fortress.
Later, Al-Zahir Baybars restored the citadel after the Mongol invasion, and in 1417, Sultan Al-Mu’ayyad Shaykh repaired its walls following their destruction by Timur in 1401.
The Aleppo Citadel has also survived powerful earthquakes, including a devastating quake in 1138 and another in 1822, each followed by major restoration efforts led by regional rulers of the time.
Beyond the citadel itself, Hajjar’s research documents Aleppo’s wider architectural heritage, including historic bathhouses and caravanserais that once supported the city’s role as a major trade center.
