The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) are retaliating in fold against terrorist attacks in northern Iraq, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Wednesday following a rocket attack on a Turkish base in the region.
“Terrorists there often harass our troops and Turkish forces immediately give the necessary response,” Akar told reporters.
“They fight with increasing ambition and determination despite the harsh winter. We will continue fighting until terrorism is eradicated at its root in northern Syria and northern Iraq. Let nobody doubt it,” he said.
His remarks came after a cluster of rockets targeted a Turkish military base in northern Iraq earlier on Wednesday. Officials of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region said an Iranian-backed militia promptly claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Islamic Resistance Ahrar al-Iraq Brigade – which is part of Iraq's pro-government, Iran-backed umbrella group of Shiite militias called the Popular Mobilization Forces – said it was behind the rocket fire.
Previously, a defense ministry official said there was no damage or injury at the base but did not provide further details. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
According to a statement from the Iraqi Kurdish region's counterterrorism department, at least eight rockets were fired at Türkiye's Zilkan military base in Iraq's northern Nineveh province, with two hitting the base itself.
Türkiye has been conducting military operations in northern Iraq since 2019, with both ground and air forces, to battle the PKK terrorist organization, which has been leading a decadeslong terrorist campaign against the country.
Northern Iraq is known as the location of many PKK terrorist hideouts and bases from where they carry out attacks in Türkiye. The Turkish military regularly conducts cross-border operations in northern Iraq where it keeps several bases that are occasionally targeted in rocket attacks.
Türkiye has long been stressing that it will not tolerate terrorist threats posed against its national security and has called on Iraqi officials to take necessary steps to eliminate the terrorist group. Ankara previously noted that if the expected steps were not taken, it would not shy away from targeting terrorist threats.
Its military involvement in northern Iraq dates back over two decades, separately from its operations against the PKK, included also the war against the Daesh terrorist group, which controlled much of the area, in 2014 and 2015, when Ankara was an ally in the U.S.-led anti-Daesh campaign.
