Turkish Strikes Kill 5 Civilians in Northern Iraq

Turkish soldiers walk to provide a combat operation in the mountains in the southeastern Turkish province of Sirnak, bordering Iraq, November 6, 2007. REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov
Turkish soldiers walk to provide a combat operation in the mountains in the southeastern Turkish province of Sirnak, bordering Iraq, November 6, 2007. REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov
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Turkish Strikes Kill 5 Civilians in Northern Iraq

Turkish soldiers walk to provide a combat operation in the mountains in the southeastern Turkish province of Sirnak, bordering Iraq, November 6, 2007. REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov
Turkish soldiers walk to provide a combat operation in the mountains in the southeastern Turkish province of Sirnak, bordering Iraq, November 6, 2007. REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov

The civilian death toll of Turkish air raids in northern Iraq rose to five on Friday, local officials said, as Ankara kept up a cross-border offensive against Turkish Kurdish rebels.

Despite official protests from Baghdad, Turkey on Wednesday launched operation "Claw-Tiger" by land and air into the mountainous terrain of northern Iraq where the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has rear bases.

Three civilians were killed Friday when a Turkish air strike hit their cars, said Ouarchine Mayi, mayor of Chiladzi in Dohuk province, which neighbors Syria and Turkey.

Another local mayor, Serbast Sabri, said the body of a fourth civilian was also found, two days after he had gone missing.

A shepherd was killed early Thursday morning when Turkish air raids hit the Bradost district, an official from northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, Ihsan Chalabi, told AFP.

Turkish special forces have landed by helicopter in Iraqi Kurdistan to flush out PKK guerrillas from hideouts in the region's remote mountains.

Turkey has sporadically bombed PKK bases in the region, but its dramatic escalation has prompted scores of families in the area to flee, according to local activists.

Neither the PKK, which Ankara brands a "terrorist" organization because of its decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, nor the Turkish military has so far reported casualties in their ranks.

Iraq's foreign ministry has summoned Turkish ambassador Fatih Yildiz twice this week, demanding Ankara withdraw its special forces and halt the bombing campaign.

But Yildiz has been defiant, telling Iraqi authorities that if Baghdad did not take action against the rebels, Ankara would continue to "fight the PKK wherever it is".

Iraq even summoned Iran's envoy in response to cross-border shelling of Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. Iran, which has its own Kurdish minority, has also been fighting Kurdish rebels who use Iraq as a base.

Saudi Arabia has also condemned the Turkish operations inside northern Iraq.

But there has been no direct comment from Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, who is himself a Kurd and is close to top officials in the autonomous Kurdish region.

The Iraqi Kurdish regional government considers the PKK a rival group but has been unable to uproot it from its mountain hideouts.

It has, however, tolerated the presence of around 10 Turkish military bases inside its territory for the past 25 years.



Syria and Neighbors Urge Israel to Stop Bombings

Israeli Merkava tanks in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 08 May 2025. (EPA)
Israeli Merkava tanks in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 08 May 2025. (EPA)
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Syria and Neighbors Urge Israel to Stop Bombings

Israeli Merkava tanks in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 08 May 2025. (EPA)
Israeli Merkava tanks in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 08 May 2025. (EPA)

The foreign ministers of Syria, Türkiye and Jordan, meeting Monday in Ankara, called on Israel to cease attacks on Syria and to withdraw troops from the country.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria since longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December, often targeting military sites and killing dozens of people.

Israeli officials have also described Syria's new authorities as extremists and claimed to defend the country's Druze minority with a recent spate of attacks.

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a press conference with his Jordanian and Syrian counterparts that "Israel's expansionism poses a significant threat to the security, stability and future of Syria."

"This must come to an end. And we are on the same page about this. Syria needs to be supported to prevent terrorist organizations from settling in this region," Fidan added, noting that Syria shares a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Türkiye.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani told the joint press conference that "our borders are constantly violated by Israeli attacks".

The Israeli strikes are "calculated escalations aimed at destabilizing Syria and dragging the region into a new cycle of conflict", Shaibani said, decrying "systematic violations of international law and explicit provocations".

He called on the international community to put Israel under "increased pressure" to halt the bombings.

Jordan's top diplomat, Ayman Safadi, said attacks on Syrian soil "will not bring security to Israel and will bring nothing to Syria except ruin and destruction".