In response to a bomb attack orchestrated by Kurdish militants in Ankara, Turkey has launched airstrikes on militant targets in northern Iraq and conducted detentions of suspects in Istanbul. The attack in Ankara occurred on Sunday morning when two assailants detonated a bomb near government buildings, resulting in their deaths and the injury of two police officers. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for the attack.
Turkey’s defence ministry reported that multiple militants were “neutralized,” often a euphemism for killed, in airstrikes that destroyed 20 targets, including caves, shelters, and depots used by the PKK in Iraq’s Metina, Hakurk, Qandil, and Gara regions. Turkey has escalated military actions against the PKK in northern Iraq in recent years, citing self-defense rights under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
Designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, the PKK initiated an insurgency in southeast Turkey in 1984, resulting in over 40,000 casualties in the conflict.
CCTV footage obtained by Reuters showed a vehicle pulling up outside Ankara’s interior ministry, with one occupant walking quickly toward the building before an explosion occurred. The blast killed one attacker, while security forces killed the other. The attack rattled an area housing ministries and the parliament and coincided with the reopening of the assembly.
One of the attackers was identified as a PKK member, with efforts ongoing to identify the other. Explosives, grenades, a rocket launcher, and various firearms were seized at the scene. The attackers had reportedly hijacked the vehicle, killing its driver in Kayseri, a city 260 km (161 miles) southeast of Ankara.
In response to the attack, counter-terrorism police carried out raids, resulting in the detention of 20 individuals with suspected links to the PKK. Among those detained were a provincial Kurdish spokesperson and district leaders of a prominent pro-Kurdish political party, accused of aiding and sheltering PKK members.
The PKK claimed responsibility for the attack through a statement by its Immortals Battalion unit, as reported by the ANF News website, which is closely associated with the group. This bombing in Ankara marked the first such incident since 2016, when a series of attacks occurred in Turkish cities, claimed by Kurdish militants, the Islamic State, and other organizations.
Turkey has conducted several large-scale military operations in recent years in northern Iraq and northern Syria against Kurdish militants. President Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed on Sunday that Turkey would maintain its strategy of a 30-km (19-mile) deep “security strip” beyond its southern borders with Syria and Iraq, hinting at the possibility of “new steps” in this direction. However, Defence Minister Yasar Guler stated that Erdogan’s comments did not introduce any new plans for a large-scale cross-border operation into Syria.
By AFP
