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Iraq Reveals Presence of Five Turkish Military Bases on its Soil

A view of the site of a Turkish attack on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern province of Dohuk, Iraq, July 20, 2022. (Reuters)
A view of the site of a Turkish attack on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern province of Dohuk, Iraq, July 20, 2022. (Reuters)
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Iraq Reveals Presence of Five Turkish Military Bases on its Soil

A view of the site of a Turkish attack on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern province of Dohuk, Iraq, July 20, 2022. (Reuters)
A view of the site of a Turkish attack on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern province of Dohuk, Iraq, July 20, 2022. (Reuters)

Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army Abdel Emir Yarallah on Saturday exposed the extent of Turkey's military presence in Iraq, revealing that it is operating five bases in the country.

Speaking at a special parliamentary session in wake of last week's Turkish strike on the northern Dohuk province, in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, Yarallah said: “The bases include more than 4,000 Turkish fighters.”

Moreover, he said Turkey has increased its incursions in Iraq.

He noted that its military boasted 40 positions in Iraq in 2021 and the figure has since risen to 100 at just short distances from the Zakho, Amadiya, and Dohuk regions.

Yarallah renewed calls to “send forces from the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga to these areas to take back vacant border lands to prevent the Turks from advancing or deploying artillery and make them turn back to their territories.”

Iraq's caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi received on Monday the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.

According to a readout issued by his bureau, Kadhimi said his government proceeded with the necessary protocols to bring up the Turkish bombing of a resort in Dohuk's Zakho before the Security Council.

“The Prime Minister called upon the UN and the international community to consider the Iraqi account of the situation,” said the statement.

For her part, Hennis-Plasschaert pledged to report the attack in a session the UN Security Council will call in to discuss this issue.

“Iraq mobilized all efforts, in agreement with its partners, to condemn the Turkish attacks,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad al-Sahaf told Asharq al-Awsat.

The Security Council condemned in the strongest terms on Monday the Dohuk attack.

It reiterated support for the independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, democratic process and prosperity of Iraq.

On Sunday, the Iraqi government sent a letter to the Security Council, saying Baghdad documented more than 22,740 violations committed by the Turkish armed forces.

Baghdad's letter included a demand for an apology from Ankara to Iraq and its people.

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Arab World

Lebanon’s Army Says It Is Preparing to Deploy to South Lebanon as Displaced Head Home

People in their cars return back to their villages after the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began early morning, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)
People in their cars return back to their villages after the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began early morning, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)
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Lebanon’s Army Says It Is Preparing to Deploy to South Lebanon as Displaced Head Home

People in their cars return back to their villages after the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began early morning, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)
People in their cars return back to their villages after the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began early morning, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)

Lebanon's army said on Wednesday it is preparing to deploy to the south of the country, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect at 0200 GMT.

The army also asked in a statement that residents of border villages delay returning home until the Israeli military withdraws.

Long-displaced residents of south Lebanon started returning to their homes amid celebrations hours after the ceasefire took effect.

The ceasefire has brought relief across the nation, coming after days of some of the most intense airstrikes and clashes since the war began, though many wondered if the agreement to stop fighting would hold. Israel has said it will attack if Hezbollah breaks the ceasefire agreement, which was announced Tuesday.  

Hundreds of cars made their way into southern Lebanon, defying a warning from the Israeli army to stay away from previously evacuated areas.  

Israeli military spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee issued the warning on the social platform X.  

“You are prohibited from heading towards the villages that the IDF has ordered to be evacuated or towards IDF forces in the area,” Adraee wrote, using an acronym for the Israeli military. “For your safety and the safety of your family members, refrain from moving to the area.”  

At least 42 people were killed by Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Tuesday, according to local authorities. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel on Tuesday, triggering air raid sirens in the country’s north.  

Displaced people started returning to the coastal city of Tyre on motorcycles and in cars early Wednesday.  

Ahmed Husseini said returning to southern Lebanon was an “indescribable feeling” and praised Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, who led Lebanon’s negotiations with Washington. “He made us and everyone proud.”  

Husseini, who earlier fled a town near the coastal city, spoke to The Associated Press while in his car with family members.  

Meanwhile, sporadic celebratory gunfire can be heard at a main roundabout in the city, as people returning honked the horns of cars — some piled with mattresses — and residents cheered.  

A couple of men shouted slogans praising slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September.  

Hussein Sweidan said he sees the ceasefire as a victory for Hezbollah. “This is a moment of victory, pride and honor for us, the Shiite sect, and for all of Lebanon,” he said.  

The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire marks the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but it does not address the devastating war in Gaza.  

Hezbollah began attacking Israel a day after Hamas’ attack. The fighting in Lebanon escalated into all-out war in September with massive Israeli airstrikes across the country and an Israeli ground invasion of the south.  

In Gaza, more than 44,000 people have been killed and more than 104,000 wounded in the nearly 14-month war between Israel and Hamas, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.