Turkey has conducted air raids targeting 71 sites reportedly linked to Kurdish groups in Syria and northern Iraq in response to the deaths of 12 Turkish soldiers in Iraq, as stated by Defense Minister Yasar Guler in a video message posted on X.
Guler claimed that at least 59 Kurdish fighters were “neutralized” in the attacks, using this term to denote fighters of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who were killed or captured.
The Ministry of Defence reported on Saturday that twelve Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with the PKK in northern Iraq, prompting Turkey to initiate multiple air raids and operations in the region. Guler expressed deep sorrow over the loss of soldiers but emphasized Turkey’s unwavering determination to seek retribution for the fallen.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that military operations had escalated in the past 36 hours, vowing to avenge “our martyrs.”
Turkish officials revealed that PKK-affiliated fighters attempted to infiltrate a Turkish base in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region on Friday, resulting in six Turkish soldiers being killed. The following day, six more Turkish soldiers lost their lives in clashes with Kurdish fighters.
During the air raids in northeast Syria on Monday, at least eight civilians were reported to have been killed, according to a spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
