Airstrike blamed on Turkey kills 2 civilians in northern Iraq

A picture taken on April 17, 2022 shows smoke billowing from behind the mountains of Matin (Jabal Matin) in the town of Chiladze before the official announcement by Turkey of an offensive targeting rebels in the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region. - Turkey on April 18 said it has launched an air and ground offensive against militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq. (Photo by AFP)

Two people were killed on Friday in an airstrike on the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, an official said, accusing Turkey of being behind the raid, Turkish Minute reported, citing Agence France-Presse.

Turkey frequently carries out ground and air operations on northern Iraq positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

“Two people were killed and two others wounded while they were picking herbs after Turkish warplanes launched strikes” on a remote village in the mountainous region of Sheladiz in Dohuk province, said Razkar Sarki, an official in the Sheladiz district.

Local media said two civilians were killed in the raid.

The Turkish military rarely comments on its operations in Iraq.

On February 20 two civilians were killed in a strike that was also blamed on Turkey, security and health officials said at the time.

Turkey has over the past 25 years operated several dozen military bases in northern Iraq in its war against the PKK, considered a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community.

Both Baghdad and the regional government of the Iraqi Kurdistan region have been accused of tolerating Turkey’s military activities to preserve their close economic ties.

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