ANKARA (Dispatches) – A Turkish drone strike in northern Iraq has killed two members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and wounded three others, Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service said in a statement.
They were killed when a Turkish drone attacked a group of PKK members at a refugee camp for Turkish Kurds near the town of Makhmour, some 60 km southeast of the northern city of Mosul, Xinhua reported citing Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service’s statement.
The Turkish forces frequently carry out ground operations, airstrikes, and artillery bombardments in northern Iraq against the PKK, especially in the Qandil Mountains, the main base of the group.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.
The development comes as a recent drone incident expected to further Mar U.S.-Turkey relations.
The downing of a Turkish drone by U.S. forces in northeastern Syria on Thursday night has raised concerns over its ramifications for the already-fragile relationship between Ankara and Washington. But both parties have moved quickly to de-escalate tensions.
Turkey’s armed forces and its National Intelligence Organization launched military operations in northern Syria in response to the suicide bombing outside the Turkish Interior Ministry in Ankara on the morning of Oct. 1, which Turkish authorities have stated was carried out by individuals affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who had infiltrated the country from Syria.
The operations targeted several locations connected to the PKK and its Syrian affiliate, the so-called People’s Protection Units (YPG), in the Tell Rifaat, Jazira, and Derik regions of northern Syria.
Turkey launched retaliatory airstrikes just a few hours after its foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, publicly declared that the PKK and its infrastructure in Syria and Iraq were “legitimate targets.”
The U.S. military took the decision to shoot down the Turkish drone when it allegedly came within 500 meters of American troops in Hasakah, Syria.
This rare incident has placed the two NATO member states in a precarious situation.
U.S. officials moved quickly to mend relations, while underscoring the value of its partnership with Ankara.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said the drone incident was “regrettable” and emphasized that U.S. troops were responsible for taking safety precautions when Turkey conducted airstrikes nearby.
“We have no indication that Turkey was intentionally targeting U.S. forces,” Ryder stressed to reporters.