IRBIL, IRAQ (AP) – A cluster of rockets targetted a Turkish military base in northern Iraq yesterday, officials from northern Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region said. An Iranian-backed militia promptly claimed responsibility for the attack.
A Turkish Defence Ministry official said there was no damage or injury at the base but did not provide further details. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
According to a statement from the Iraqi Kurdish region’s anti-terrorism department, at least eight rockets were fired at Turkiye’s Zilkan military base in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, with two hitting the base itself.
Turkiye has been conducting military operations in northern Iraq since 2019, with both ground and air forces, to battle the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has been waging a decadeslong insurgency against Ankara. The PKK maintains training bases and sanctuaries in the Kurdish Iraqi region. Turkish troops have frequently launched airstrikes targetting the PKK.
