Turkey Carries Out Airstrikes in Iraqi Kurdistan

Strikes target farm area near Iraq-Iran border

Turkey’s Defense Ministry announced a flurry of attacks against Iraqi Kurdistan on Tuesday morning. The strikes hit the Suleimani Province, near the Iran-Iraq border.

Turkey claimed to be attacking “terrorist” targets, adding that a heavy blow was dealt. The mayor of the area reported that there was not much damage from attacks targeting farmlands, but that there were a lot of frightened farmers in the area.

Turkey has been attacking PKK targets in Iraq recently. They didn’t elaborate on targets today beyond “terrorists,” which is generally Turkish government shorthand for Kurds.

This is an unusual story in the attacking of farmland, as generally Turkey pounds populated ares when they think they’ve got PKK targets in sight.

Attacks in Iraq have been repeatedly criticized by the Iraqi government, though they’ve shown no real ability to curb the attacks.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.