BAGHDAD (Xinhua) – Nine rockets landed near a Turkish military base in Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh on Thursday, the Kurdish security authorities said.
Unidentified militants fired the rockets at the Zlikan military base, which houses Turkish forces, near the town of Bashiqa in the northeast of Nineveh’s provincial capital of Mosul, the regional Kurdish Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
The statement said that the rockets landed in the vicinity of the base.
A burnt-out truck carrying the rocket launchers was found in an area between two villages near Bashiqa, the statement said, adding that the truck was burned by the fire of the rockets.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Iraq has repeatedly accused Turkey of violating its sovereignty by entering its territory without permission, including the Turkish military presence in the Bashiqa base.
Turkish forces frequently carry out ground operations, airstrikes, and artillery bombardments in Iraq’s Kurdistan, especially the Qandil Mountains, the main base of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for over three decades.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb on Friday struck a vehicle belonging to the Australian embassy in Iraq, without causing casualties, said a source with the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
An improvised explosive device went off near the vehicle in the al-Qadisiyah neighborhood at the western entrance of the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
He said that the blast hit the vehicle entering the Green Zone and there was no casualty except for minor damage to the car.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.