Iraq Condemns ‘Repeated Turkish Attacks’ after Kurdish Officers Killed

Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid speaks during a news conference as an ancient artifact brought back from Italy is displayed at the Peace Palace inside the Green Zone, in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 18, 2023. (AP)
Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid speaks during a news conference as an ancient artifact brought back from Italy is displayed at the Peace Palace inside the Green Zone, in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Iraq Condemns ‘Repeated Turkish Attacks’ after Kurdish Officers Killed

Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid speaks during a news conference as an ancient artifact brought back from Italy is displayed at the Peace Palace inside the Green Zone, in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 18, 2023. (AP)
Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid speaks during a news conference as an ancient artifact brought back from Italy is displayed at the Peace Palace inside the Green Zone, in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 18, 2023. (AP)

Iraq's President Abdel Latif Rashid condemned on Tuesday "repeated Turkish attacks", a day after a drone strike on a northern airfield killed three Kurdish counterterrorism officers.

"The Turkish ambassador will be called in to receive a letter of protest addressed to the Turkish president", Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Rashid's office said in a statement.

"Mercy be on the martyrs of Iraq, the civilian and military heroes killed by repeated Turkish attacks."

Turkish authorities have not commented on Monday's strike which killed three members of the counterterrorism forces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region and wounded three others at Arbat airfield, southeast of the city of Sulaymaniyah.

While such attacks against the Iraqi Kurdish security services are extremely rare, Ankara is leading a quickening campaign in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria, targeting Kurdish fighters.

A senior military official in Baghdad said that the drone which killed the counterterrorism officers had originated in Türkiye.

Around 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) on Monday, "the drone entered Iraqi airspace, crossing the border from Türkiye, and bombarded the Arbat airfield," which is mainly used by crop-spraying aircraft, said General Yehya Rassoul, spokesman of the federal armed forces commander in chief.

"This attack constitutes a violation of Iraq's sovereignty", he said, adding: "Iraq reserves the right to put a stop to these violations."

"These repeated attacks are incompatible with the principle of good neighborliness between states. They threaten to undermine Iraq's efforts to build positive and balanced political, economic and security relations with its neighbors," Rassoul said.

On Sunday, a Turkish drone strike killed a senior official and three fighters of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) in the Sinjar Mountains of northwestern Iraq, Iraqi Kurdish authorities said.

Ankara and its Western allies classify the PKK as a "terrorist" organization.

The United Nations mission in Iraq condemned the attack on Arbat airfield.

"Attacks repeatedly violating Iraqi sovereignty must stop," it said. "Security concerns must be addressed through dialogue and diplomacy -- not strikes."

The Turkish army rarely comments on its strikes in Iraq but routinely conducts military operations against PKK rear-bases in autonomous Kurdistan as well as in Sinjar district.

The PKK has been waging a deadly insurgency against the Turkish state for four decades and the conflict has repeatedly spilt across the border into northern Iraq.

Türkiye operates dozens of military posts in northern Iraq initially established under an agreement struck in the eighties with the government of late longtime ruler Saddam Hussein.

In April, Baghdad accused Ankara of carrying out a "bombardment" near Sulaymaniyah airport while US soldiers and the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces -- a US-backed alliance dominated by the PKK's Syrian Kurdish ally, the People's Defense Units (YPG) -- were present.

That strike too drew condemnation from the office of President Rashid, who is himself a Kurd.



Lebanon's Hezbollah Confirms Leader Nasrallah Killed

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gestures as he addresses his supporters in a rare public appearance during a religious ceremony on the eve of Ashura in Beirut's southern suburbs November 13, 2013. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban/File Photo
Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gestures as he addresses his supporters in a rare public appearance during a religious ceremony on the eve of Ashura in Beirut's southern suburbs November 13, 2013. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban/File Photo
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Lebanon's Hezbollah Confirms Leader Nasrallah Killed

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gestures as he addresses his supporters in a rare public appearance during a religious ceremony on the eve of Ashura in Beirut's southern suburbs November 13, 2013. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban/File Photo
Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gestures as he addresses his supporters in a rare public appearance during a religious ceremony on the eve of Ashura in Beirut's southern suburbs November 13, 2013. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban/File Photo

Lebanon's Hezbollah confirmed on Saturday that its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed and vowed to continue the battle against Israel.

A statement Saturday said Nasrallah “has joined his fellow martyrs.”
The statement said Hezbollah vows to “continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine.”
Nasrallah led the Lebanese group for more than three decades. His death could dramatically reshape conflicts across the Middle East.
Earlier, Israel said Saturday that it killed Nasrallah, dealing its most significant blow to the Lebanese group after months of fighting.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said six people were killed and 91 injured in the Beirut strikes Friday, which leveled six apartment buildings. Ali Karki, the Commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, and additional Hezbollah commanders were also killed in the attack, the Israeli military said.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesperson, said the airstrike was based on years of tracking Nasrallah along with “real time information” that made it viable. He said Nasrallah’s death had been confirmed through various types of intelligence, but declined to elaborate.
It was not immediately clear what effect the strike would have on Hezbollah or fighting between the sides that has dragged on for nearly a year. Israel has vowed to step up pressure on Hezbollah until it halts its attacks that have displaced tens of thousands of Israelis from communities near the Lebanese border. The recent fighting has also displaced more than 200,000 Lebanese in the past week, according to the United Nations.