Turkey sends troops to Iraq, opening military operation ‘claw pincer’

Turkish soldiers in an operation against Kurdish forces afp

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on April 18 confirmed that the country’s military had conducted air and ground attacks on Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, according to ABC. The campaign is called “claw pincers”.

Turkish jets and artillery bombarded the organization’s targetsThe Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Then, commandos with the support of helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) advanced by land or by airlift, according to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.

He said the jets hit shelters, caves, tunnels, ammunition depots and PKK headquarters. The organization maintains bases in northern Iraq that are allegedly used to attack Turkey.

Turkey has conducted countless cross-border air and ground operations against the PKK over the past decades. The latest attack targeted the areas of Metina, Zap and Avashin-Basyan in northern Iraq.

“Our campaign is continuing successfully as planned. The objectives identified in the first phase have been achieved”, according to Minister Akar.

He did not disclose the number of planes and troops involved in the operation and said “the effort will continue until the last terrorist is neutralized”.

The official asserted that sending troops to Iraq was aimed at “terrorists” with “maximum sensitivity” shown to avoid damage to civilians as well as structures. culturalreligion.

The Iraqi side has not yet commented. In the past, Iraq has called on Turkey to end its military presence in Iraqi territory when conducting an operation against the PKK in the north. According to officials in Baghdad, the actions of the Turkish military against PKK members on Iraqi soil are “contrary to the principle of good neighborliness”, according to Press TV.

The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, after it emerged in 1984 in southeastern Turkey, which has a majority Kurdish population.