ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s defense ministry on Sunday said it killed or wounded 30 Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in retaliatory strikes.
After the PKK killed 12 Turkish soldiers in the Kurdistan Region in 24 hours, Turkey said on Saturday evening that it carried out retaliatory airstrikes on 29 locations in Iraq and northeast Syria, targeting “caves, shelters, oil facilities, and warehouses” where it claimed PKK fighters were present.
Thirty PKK fighters were “neutralized” in the airstrikes, according to Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler. Turkey uses the term “neutralize” to denote adversaries captured, wounded, or killed.
The PKK said four of their members were killed and accused Turkey of "lies" with inflated numbers and trying to "present their defeat to the Turkish public in a different way," according to a statement from the PKK's armed wing published by ANF, media linked to the group.
The Kurdish-led administration of northeast Syria (Rojava) said on Sunday that the overnight strikes had targeted several oil sites and “vital and service” facilities in the countryside of Derik (al-Malikiyah) and Tirbespi (al-Qahtaniyah), adding that the attacks obstruct efforts to combat Islamic State (ISIS) militants.
The Rojava administration called on “all forces keen on achieving and preserving stability” to take deterrent positions against the “unjustified” attacks and urged the United Nations and human rights organizations to document Turkey’s strikes and targeting of facilities “that serve the people” in Syria.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the strikes had hit key infrastructure in areas under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including power and oil and gas facilities in the countryside of Hasaka, putting them out of service.
Most of the villages in Derik, Tirbespi, and Cil Axa (al-Jawadiyah) areas experienced blackouts on account of the strikes, according to the war monitor.
Turkey says the airstrikes were “self-defense” with the goal of ending “terrorist attacks” and securing its borders. It also claimed to take precautions to avoid harming civilians or the environment.
Both the PKK and Turkey have recently increased their attacks on the other in the Kurdistan Region. Turkey also frequently carries out attacks on groups in Rojava that it believes are PKK offshoots.
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