Five Killed in Turkish Drone Strikes on PKK Members in Northern Iraq

10 April 2016, Hamburg: Participants in a demonstration by Kurds and left-wing groups wave the flag of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). (dpa)
10 April 2016, Hamburg: Participants in a demonstration by Kurds and left-wing groups wave the flag of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). (dpa)
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Five Killed in Turkish Drone Strikes on PKK Members in Northern Iraq

10 April 2016, Hamburg: Participants in a demonstration by Kurds and left-wing groups wave the flag of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). (dpa)
10 April 2016, Hamburg: Participants in a demonstration by Kurds and left-wing groups wave the flag of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). (dpa)

Turkish drone strikes killed five members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan's counter-terrorism service and security sources said on Sunday.

The first Turkish strike targeted a vehicle in a mountain area near Iraq's northern province Dohuk late on Saturday, killing three, including one person identified by the Iraqi Kurdistan's counter-terrorism service statement as a "senior PKK official", the statement added.

Another drone strike on Sunday targeted a vehicle, killing two fighters from the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), two security sources and a local official in the district of Sinjar told Reuters.

Türkiye regularly carries out airstrikes on PKK militants in northern Iraq and has dozens of outposts in the Iraqi territory.

The PKK launched an insurgency against Ankara in 1984 with the initial aim of creating an independent Kurdish state. It subsequently moderated its goals to seeking greater Kurdish rights and limited autonomy in southeast Türkiye.



Blinken Speaks to Israel’s Dermer about Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

 A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
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Blinken Speaks to Israel’s Dermer about Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

 A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza in a meeting with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Washington on Monday, the State Department said.

Dermer updated Blinken on operational changes and policy decisions taken by Israel in response to a US letter sent in October, the department said in a statement on Tuesday.

Blinken "emphasized the importance of ensuring those changes lead to an actual improvement in the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, including through the delivery of additional assistance to civilians throughout Gaza," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in the statement.