Türkiye attacks Kurdish militant targets in Syria and Iraq for second day

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey attacked suspected Kurdish militant targets in Syria and Iraq for a second day on Thursday, following an attack on the facilities of a major defense company that killed at least five people, the media agency reported. state news.

The National Intelligence Organization targeted numerous “strategic locations” used by the Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, or the militant-affiliated Syrian Kurdish militia, Anadolu Agency reported. The targets included military, intelligence, energy and infrastructure facilities and ammunition depots, the report said. A security official said armed drones were used in Thursday’s attacks.

On Wednesday, Turkey’s air force carried out airstrikes against similar targets in northern Syria and northern Iraq, hours after government authorities blamed the deadly attack on the headquarters of aerospace and defense company TUSAS on the PKK. More than 30 targets were destroyed in the air offensive, the Defense Ministry said.

The attackers – a man and a woman – arrived at the TUSAS premises on the outskirts of Ankara in a taxi they confiscated after killing its driver, according to reports. Armed with assault rifles, they set off explosives and opened fire, killing four people at TUSAS, including a security guard and a mechanical engineer.

Security teams were deployed as soon as the attack began at around 3:30 p.m., the interior minister said. The two attackers were also killed and more than 20 people were injured in the attack.

There was no immediate statement from the PKK about the attack or the Turkish airstrikes.

TUSAS designs, manufactures and assembles civil and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and other defense and space industry systems. Its defense systems were considered essential for Turkey to gain an advantage in its fight against Kurdish militants.

The attack came a day after the leader of Turkey’s far-right nationalist party, an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, raised the possibility that the jailed PKK leader could be granted parole if he renounced violence and dissolved his organization.

Abdullah Ocalan’s group has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since the 1980s. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies.