PKK Claims Ankara Attack, Erdogan Says Perpetrators Infiltrated from Syria

Emergency and security teams are deployed outside of Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. at the outskirts of Ankara, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (Yavuz Ozden/Dia Photo via AP)
Emergency and security teams are deployed outside of Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. at the outskirts of Ankara, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (Yavuz Ozden/Dia Photo via AP)
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PKK Claims Ankara Attack, Erdogan Says Perpetrators Infiltrated from Syria

Emergency and security teams are deployed outside of Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. at the outskirts of Ankara, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (Yavuz Ozden/Dia Photo via AP)
Emergency and security teams are deployed outside of Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. at the outskirts of Ankara, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (Yavuz Ozden/Dia Photo via AP)

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Friday claimed responsibility for this week's attack on Turkish defense company TUSAS that killed five people in Ankara, it said in a statement.

Two assailants - a man and a woman - carried out Wednesday's assault with automatic rifles and explosives on the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) in Ankara. Twenty-two people were also wounded.

Both attackers were killed. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said later that they were confirmed to be PKK members.

The perpetrators of the attack infiltrated Türkiye from Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was cited as saying by broadcaster NTV and others on Friday.

Speaking to reporters on a flight back from Russia's Kazan, where he attended the BRICS summit, Erdogan vowed to eradicate terrorism at its source in Syria, adding that Türkiye would continue its battle against militants until the end.

Türkiye carried out airstrikes against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq overnight, hitting dozens of targets for the second night in a row, the Defense Ministry said on Friday.

The operation followed a security meeting that Erdogan chaired with key ministers and the armed forces and intelligence agency chiefs in Istanbul on Thursday evening.

Türkiye hit 34 PKK targets in Hakurk, Gara, Qandil and Sinjar in northern Iraq, destroying shelters, warehouses and other facilities, and "neutralizing" a large number of militants, the ministry said.

Security sources said separately that Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) had hit a total of 120 PKK targets in Iraq and Syria since the attack in Ankara.



New Storm Bears Down on Philippines after Deadly Trami

 In this photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Communications Office, a view of a damaged bridge caused by Tropical Storm Trami, in Laurel, Batangas province, Philippines on Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Malacanang Presidential Communications Office via AP)
In this photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Communications Office, a view of a damaged bridge caused by Tropical Storm Trami, in Laurel, Batangas province, Philippines on Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Malacanang Presidential Communications Office via AP)
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New Storm Bears Down on Philippines after Deadly Trami

 In this photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Communications Office, a view of a damaged bridge caused by Tropical Storm Trami, in Laurel, Batangas province, Philippines on Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Malacanang Presidential Communications Office via AP)
In this photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Communications Office, a view of a damaged bridge caused by Tropical Storm Trami, in Laurel, Batangas province, Philippines on Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Malacanang Presidential Communications Office via AP)

The Philippines raised a fresh weather alert on Monday, days more than 100 people were killed by the worst storm of the year.

Nearly a million people are still sheltering at evacuation centers or with relatives after losing their homes or being driven out by floodwaters brought by Severe Tropical Storm Trami, which struck from October 22.

Now the national weather agency says Tropical Storm Kong-rey will bring heavy rain and severe wind to land in coming hours, and cause rough seas off the east coast.

Kong-rey will strengthen into a typhoon by Tuesday and pass close to small Philippine islands in the north as early as Wednesday, the weather service said in a bulletin. The lowest of a five-stage storm alert is in place on the country's northeast coast.

Trami, by contrast, struck some of the country's most populous areas.

The government's disaster agency put the death toll from Trami at 116, with 39 missing.

"Considering the current movement, a further westward shift in forecast track is not ruled out," it said of the latest storm, which would bring it closer to the country than earlier forecast.

It expects Kong-rey to smash into Taiwan at typhoon strength early Friday.

About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Philippines or its surrounding waters each year, damaging homes and infrastructure and killing dozens of people.