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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Suspected Turkish bombardment targeted Erbil’s eastern border with Iran on Tuesday, a local mayor told Rudaw almost a week after Turkey announced its new air operation targeting areas in northern Iraq.
At around 11:30 am, suspected Turkish bombardment struck Bradost mountain range in Erbil’s Sidakan subdistrict targeting alleged Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bases, Sidakan’s mayor Ihsan Chalabi told Rudaw.
“Turkish bombardment targeted Barbzin heights and Mount Bole and it hit the areas hard two times,” Chalabi said.
There are no reports of casualties.
The PKK is an armed group fighting for greater rights for Kurds in Turkey, with several bases in the Kurdistan Region. Turkey frequently carries out cross-border ground and air offensives against alleged locations of the PKK, which Ankara considers to be a terrorist organization.
Turkey last week marked the start of its new air operation, dubbed Winter Eagle, by launching airstrikes that hit the vicinity of Makhmour camp in northern Iraq, killing and injuring several people. The camp hosts more than 12,000 Kurdish refugees who fled persecution by the Turkish state since the 1990s.
The recent escalation in attacks came as Turkey released footage of its fortified bases deep inside Iraqi territory with its soldiers patrolling the Kurdistan Region's snow-capped mountains in late January.
The Turkish state has come under criticism from Baghdad, Erbil, Tehran and the wider international community for violating Iraqi sovereignty, but Ankara continues to establish increasing numbers of bases and outposts in the mountains of Erbil and Duhok provinces. Turkey launched an operation targeting the PKK in northern Duhok in April of last year.
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