On October 18, 5 fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were killed in a Turkish airstrike inside Iraq, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency. The source said that Turkish warplanes killed the PKK fighters in Zap area in northern Iraq on the Iraqi-Turkish border.
The Turkish General Staff said that the PKK fighters were targeted because they were planning an attack against Turkey. Since July 2015, the Turkish Air Force has conducted dozens of airstrike against the PKK in northern Iraq and Syria.
The Turkish airstrike is likely a respond to the recent two attacks of the PKK against the Turkish Army. On October 17, 4 Turkish soldiers were killed in the PKK attack. 5 other Turkish soldiers were injured on October 16 when the PKK targeted their vehicle with an IED north of Zap area.
These attacks shows that the Kurdistan Region crisis didn’t only gave the PKK more freedom inside Iraq, but also in Turkey. Back on April 25, Turkish warplanes conducted dozens of airstrikes against PKK and YPG forces in Syrian and Iraq. Back then the Iraqi Federal Government condemned the Turkish airstrikes, something we didn’t see in October.
