Rockets Hit Turkish Military Base & Kurdish Peshmerga Headquarters In Northern Iraq (Photos)

Turkish forces are seen at Mount Barsaya in northeast of Afrin, January 28, 2018 / Khalil Ashawi / Reuters

On June 26, a coordinated rocket attack targeted a base of the Turkish military in the outskirts of the town of Zaylkan and a headquarters of the 112^th Force of the Kurdish Peshmerga on Mount Bishik in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh.

Two Grad-type 122 mm rockets targeted the Turkish base. At around the same time, two others hit the Peshmerga headquarters. In a statement, the Directorate General of Counter Terrorism in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region said that the rocket attack didn’t result in any casualties or material losses.

The four rockets were reportedly launched from an area located near the al-Tahrir neighborhood in the city of Mosul. At least two of the improvised launchers used in the attack were uncovered by Iraqi security forces.

The Turkish military base in Zaylkan was targeted on several occasions in the last few months. However, this was the first time a headquarters of the Peshmerga was targeted on the same time.

No side has claimed responsibility for the attack, yet. Two previous attacks on Zaylkan base were claimed by a Ahrar Sinjar, a shadowy group that is reportedly made up of Kurds sympathetic to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and backed by pro-Iranian factions.

The recent attacks on Turkish forces in northern Iraq were likely a response to Ankara’ ongoing operation against PKK cells in the areas of Metina, Zap and Avashin Basyan in the Kurdistan Region.

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