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1 dead in northern Iraqi strike blamed on Turkey

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One person was killed and two were wounded on Monday in a strike on a refugee camp in northern Iraq, the autonomous Kurdistan region’s counterterrorism service said, blaming Turkey, Agence France-Presse reported.

A member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was among the casualties, the service added, without specifying whether he was dead or wounded.

The decades-long conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which Ankara and its Western allies consider a terrorist organization, has often spilled over into northern Iraq.

Both sides maintain military positions or rear bases in the north, primarily in the autonomous Kurdistan region.

Monday morning’s strike targeted a PKK meeting place in the Makhmur camp, located in an area that is the subject of a dispute between Baghdad and the Kurdish authorities.

The counterterrorism service said a “Turkish army drone” had killed one person and wounded two others, including a PKK member.

The Makhmur camp, seen by Ankara as a PKK stronghold, is regularly targeted by Turkish forces. It is in Nineveh province, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) southwest of Arbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

For months Ankara has been pressing Iraq to adopt a stronger position on the PKK. In March, Baghdad classified the group as a “banned organization.”

In mid-August, Turkey and Iraq signed a military cooperation agreement to set up joint command and training centers to fight the PKK.

Baghdad and Arbil have often been accused of turning a blind eye to maintain their strategic alliance with Turkey, a crucial trading partner.

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