Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
■ Protesters storm a Turkish base in north Iraq; one teenager killed.
IRBIL, Iraq — Angry protesters stormed a Turkish military base in northern Iraq on Saturday, burning Turkish military vehicles and leading to a confrontation that left one teenager killed and 10 people injured, according to officials in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
The protesters were demonstrating against a recent Turkish air raid that killed six civilians, the officials said.
A video obtained by The Associated Press showed a crowd of protesters who appeared to be mostly in their 20s inside the base in the town of Shaladze. Some tried to smash the door of what appeared to be a warehouse at the base with a rock, while another tried to destroy a Turkish tank with a hammer. Fire and smoke could be seen rising from military vehicles.
A statement by the Kurdish Regional Government, or KRG, expressed regret for the loss of life and extended sympathy to the families of the victims. The statement said it will investigate the incident and punish those behind the chaos and sabotage.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said that a Turkish military base in northern Iraq came under attack by Kurdish militants and that some vehicles and equipment were damaged. In a tweet, the ministry blamed the attack on a “provocation” by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The far-left group is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its NATO allies.
The PKK has waged an insurgency within Turkey since 1984 and is based in camps in northern Iraq near the Turkish border. Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict, which resumed in 2015 after a fragile two-year cease-fire.
Eyewitnesses said Hassan Rekan Hussein, a 13-year-old from Shaladze, was killed in the confrontation Saturday.