(Baghdad) Turkish airstrikes have killed eight tourists in northern Iraq and injured more than 20 others, Iraqi Kurdish officials and the Iraqi military said on Wednesday.
Posted at 12:53 p.m.
At least four missiles hit the resort town of Barakh in the Kurdish-ruled semi-autonomous region’s Zakho district, district mayor Mushir Mohammed told The Associated Press. All of the victims were Iraqi citizens.
Separately, six members of the federal police were killed and five injured in the northern province of Salahadin after Daesh (the Islamic State armed group) militants attacked their units at dawn on Wednesday, according to two army officials Iraqi who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Hundreds of Iraqi tourists come from the south to the Kurdish region during the summer months, as the weather is relatively cooler. The sights of Zakho are close to the military bases set up by Turkey.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi dispatched a delegation to the region led by Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein and ordered an investigation into the incident.
Turkey regularly carries out airstrikes in northern Iraq and has sent commandos to support its offensives targeting elements of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, considered by many countries to be a terrorist entity.
Wednesday’s attack marked the first time tourists have been killed in Turkey’s frequent attacks in the region, officials said.
In April, Turkey launched its latest offensive in parts of northern Iraq – part of a series of cross-border operations launched in 2019 to combat the illegal PKK established in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq. .
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Canada, Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has waged an insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984 that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Ankara has urged Baghdad to eradicate PKK elements from the northern region. Iraq, in turn, has said Turkey’s ongoing attacks violate its sovereignty.