Rockets Hit Turkish Base In Northern Iraq In Response To Recent Deadly Strikes (Photos)

Turkish army tanks and military personal are stationed in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 25, 2016. © Umit Bektas / Reuters

Late on June 17, a rocket attack targeted a key base of the Turkish military in the outskirts of the town of Zaylkan in Bashiqa district in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh.

The Turkish base was targeted with at least five Grad 122 mm rockets. At least two of the rockets landed near the base. However, no casualties or material losses were reported.

Local sources in Nineveh said that the rockets were launched from an area controlled by pro-Iranian factions near the Nineveh Police Academy, which is located in the northeastern outskirts of Mosul city. These claims are yet to be confirmed.

The rocket attack came just hours after a deadly Turkish drone strike on the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The strike targeted a vehicle in the province of Sulaymaniyah. Four people, allegedly members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), were killed in the strike.

Just two days earlier, a Yazidi child was killed when two Turkish strikes targeted the so-called People’s Council in the town of Snuny in Nineveh.

The rocket attack on Zaylkan base was likely a response to Turkey’s recent deadly strikes on northern Iraq. No side has claimed responsibility for the attack, yet. Two previous attacks on the same base were claimed by a group calling itself Ahrar Sinjar. The shadowy group is reportedly made up of Kurds and backed by pro-Iranian factions.

Attacks on Turkish forces in northern Iraq increased after Ankara launched Operation Claw-Lock against PKK cells in the areas of Metina, Zap and Avashin Basyan in mid-April.

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