Unknown warplanes strike Sulaimani’s Mount Asos area

SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - Mount Asos in Sulaimani has come under intense shelling by unknown fighter jets, locals confirmed to Rudaw.

“An intense bombing has started on Mount Asos and that is ongoing,” Kamaran Hassan, mayor of Mawat town in Sulaimani, told Rudaw.

He added it was the third time this month the mountain has been targeted.

He said the strikes have so far caused no casualties.

Jets were spotted overhead before the attack began, he said, but they do not know where the planes came from.

The warplanes bombed the mountain for the first time on November 5, according to reports. Local officials said the planes were Turkish.

Turkey frequently carries out airstrikes against alleged PKK positions in Kurdistan’s mountains. The PKK has its headquarters in the Qandil mountains near the border with Turkey.

The PKK and the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an Iranian Kurdish group, are believed to have bases in the Mount Asos area.

Mount Asos in Mawat town in Sharbazher region is 55 kilometers from Sulaimani.