3 PKK fighters killed in Iraq airstrike blamed on Turkey

Drone strikes killed three militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq on Thursday, Kurdish authorities said, blaming Turkey for the attack, Agence France-Presse reported.

Turkey often carries out ground and air operations in northern Iraq against the PKK, which has waged a decades-long war against the Turkish state.

Turkish drones “struck two cars and a hideout of the PKK between 10:45 and 11:00 a.m. [0745 and 0800 GMT],” said the counterterrorism services of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.

The strikes “killed a military commander and two other PKK fighters” in the Mawat area of northern Sulaimaniyah province, it said, adding that two other fighters were missing.

The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, holds positions in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, where Turkey also maintains military bases.

During a January visit to Baghdad, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called for regional efforts to combat the PKK in Iraq as well as Kurdish militants in neighboring Syria, whom Ankara accuses of links to the outlawed group.

Baghdad has recently sharpened its tone against the PKK, quietly listing it as a “banned organization” last year.

But Ankara wants Iraq to go further and officially declare it a terrorist group.

In August Baghdad and Ankara signed a military cooperation deal to establish joint command and training centers with the aim of fighting the PKK.