Turkey sends special forces into northern Iraq
IRAQ/TURKEY Turkey deployed special forces in northern Iraq on Wednesday in an operation against Kurdish rebels backed by air and artillery support as the conflict continues to escalate.
Warplanes struck more than 150 Kurdish targets in northern Iraq’s Haftanin region, 15km (9 miles) from the Turkish border, the defence ministry said. It was the second such operation launched against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in recent days. “Our heroic commandos are in Haftanin,” the ministry said, dubbing the new operation “Claw-Tiger”. “Our commandos - who are supported by combat helicopters and drones - have been transported by our air force.”
The defence ministry justified launching the operation because of a “recent upsurge in attacks on our police stations and military bases” near the Iraqi border. There was no immediate reaction from the PKK or from Baghdad and northern Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region. The move is likely to increase friction between Ankara and Baghdad, which on Tuesday summoned the Turkish ambassador to protest Turkish air strikes on Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq this week.
“In order to neutralise the
PKK and other terrorist elements threatening our people and our borders, our air force, along with firesupport equipment, helicopters and our commandos, supported by armed and unarmed drones, have mobilised to the region with air operations,” the ministry said.
It shared videos of Defence Minister Hulusi Akar overseeing the mission at a command centre in Ankara. Wednesday’s attack came just days after Turkey said an operation it called “Claw-Eagle” was launched against PKK targets in various regions of northern Iraq. Al Jazeera’s Simona Foltyn, reporting from Baghdad, said the lack of government response to the cross-border raid has been interpreted by some analysts as acquiescence to Turkey’s offensive. “The way some people interpret this is the Kurdish authorities have welcomed these operations because they don’t really want the presence of the PKK fighters on their ground either,” said Foltyn. “What is also interesting is this appears not just to be a Turkish operation. There appears to be some Iranian involvement through artillery strikes that are still ongoing.”
(Al Jazeera)