The Turkish army launched a new raid against Kurdish targets in northern Syria in retaliation for the bombing in Ankara last week.
On October 6, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced a night raid with maximum intensity against 15 targets of the Kurdish militia in northern Syria. These targets included the “command headquarters and shelters” of the Kurdish militia.
The raid was announced a few hours after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a meeting about Washington’s fighter jet shooting down an Ankara drone operating in Syria. Despite the above event, Mr. Fidan announced that Türkiye would continue to airstrike targets in neighboring countries.
Turkey increased cross-border raids against Kurdish targets in northeastern Syria and northern Iraq last week in retaliation for a bombing in Ankara on October 1 that injured two policemen.
A Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) branch, which is on the terrorist list of Ankara and the West, claimed responsibility for the bombing. Türkiye concluded that the two terrorist perpetrators came from Syria and were trained here.
Turkey mainly raids oil and gas exploitation facilities and other energy infrastructure in Syria, controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). The YPG is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the US-led coalition.
On October 6, the SDF announced that 15 people were killed in the first two days of Türkiye’s raid, including 8 civilians.
