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Following a suicide bombing in Ankara, Turkey’s warplanes conducted raids on Kurdish sites in northern Iraq.
On Sunday, the Turkish interior ministry reported that approximately 20 locations associated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were “destroyed” during the aerial operation. This includes caves, shelters, and storage depots across Iraq’s PKK bases, specifically in areas such as Gara, Hakurk, Metina, and Qandil.
The raids occurred shortly after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive near the entrance of Ankara’s interior ministry building, injuring two police officers and leading to a police shootout with a second attacker. Subsequent footage from a security camera captured the moments leading to the explosion, highlighting the two attackers’ actions before the incident.
A Terrorist attack in Turkey carried out by Two terrorists outside the ministry buildings in Ankara. According to officials, one terrorist detonated a suicide vest while another was "neutralized" by authorities. Additional info here: https://t.co/Qxmtjxdo0E pic.twitter.com/MpgpXI7QEp
— Real News No Bullshit (@NewsNotBs) October 1, 2023
A news agency aligned with the PKK stated that the group accepted responsibility for the act, noting it was synchronized with the parliament’s inauguration. The PKK is recognized as a terrorist entity by the European Union, the US, and Turkey.
Iraqi President Abdul-Latif Rashid expressed concerns regarding the frequent Turkish raids, aspiring for an agreement to resolve the issue. Furthermore, this recent bombing marked the first significant incident in Ankara since a car explosion in March 2016 that claimed 37 lives. This attack and others in the region have previously been attributed to the PKK and ISIL.