Turkey launches “Operation Claw Sword” in Syria in opposition to the PKK and YPG, killing at least 31 people. Turkish President Erdogan threatens an attack from the ground. Turkish warplanes enter Russian-controlled airspace in Syria. , killing 3 civilians. Iranian attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan make at least one life.
Erbil (AsiaNews) – For days, Iran and Turkey have attacked Kurdish targets in Iraq and Syria with missiles and drones, killing dozens of people and causing serious damage to infrastructure in spaces already affected by intense bombing and other army operations in the past.
Iran has focused its operations on Iraqi Kurdistan, where it believes Kurdish resistance teams have bases connected to the Iranian opposition. The attacks intensified following the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Mahsa Amini and street protests that erupted across Iran and are now raging. 3rd month
For its part, Turkey has intensified its operations in Kurdish spaces of Syria. The Turkish government that this thirteenth of November terrorist attack in Istanbul, which left six dead and dozens injured, was planned through the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK)[i] and the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG)[ii] founded in Syria.
This comes as recent reports imply emerging tensions, with violence and loss of life among the civilian population.
Over the weekend, Turkey unveiled the Claw Sword air operation opposed to Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq. The Turkish government announced the army’s action on Twitter with the symbol of a fighter jet taking off, saying: “It’s time to settle scores!”
For the first time in 3 years, Turkish jets flew in Russian-controlled Syrian airspace, hitting at least 89 targets, adding Syrian army sites.
The Kurdish government has reported that, in addition to targeting bases and infrastructure, Turkish bombs have killed at least 31 other people in Kurdish spaces on the Syrian-Iraqi border. At least 11 of the dead were civilians, along with dozens wounded in Aleppo, Raqqa and Hasakeh provinces.
Kurdish forces reacted, with five rockets fired at Turkey, some agencies said through the YPG, others through the PKK, landing in Karkamis, a Turkish village near the border. 3 civilians and wounding six.
Now, as tensions rise, violence is likely to increase. This morning, Turkish President Erdogan said the army’s operation would be limited to airstrikes but would be expanded with ground troops for what he promises will be a full-scale invasion.
People have also been killed and injured in Iraqi Kurdistan. “Arbil, Sulaymaniyah and several mountain villages were bombed,” a local church told AsiaNews.
“In addition to the locals, here we have refugees from Mosul and the Nineveh Plains who fled ISIS in 2014 and never returned. In our villages, we are fine and have suffered no casualties, but others have been killed and injured in the cities.
The Turks are not the only ones attacking Iraqi Kurdistan. Iran has also introduced a military operation with drones opposed to what the Iranian government sees as safe havens for opposition teams and fighters.
This follows the death of Mahsa Amini, which sparked protests that don’t seem to end anytime soon.
Overnight, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) carried out an operation that killed at least one member of Iraqi Kurdistan’s military force, the Peshmerga.
The United States condemned the attack on a Monday.
[i] Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan.
[ii] Yekîneyên Parastina Gel.
Turkey launches “Air Operation Claw Sword” in Syria in opposition to the PKK and YPG, killing at least 31 people. Turkish President Erdogan threatens an attack from the ground. Turkish fighter jets enter Russian controlled airspace in Syria. , killing 3 civilians. Iranian attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan make at least one life.