Turkish forces targeted with rockets in Nineveh province

A military base housing Turkish troops in the Iraqi northern province of Nineveh came under rocket attack Monday afternoon. No casualties or material damage was reported, according to Kurdish counter-terrorism forces.

The Erbil-based Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD) said in a statement on its Facebook page on Monday that the military base in Zilkan, Nineveh province, was targeted with two rockets.

“One rocket landed inside the base while the other landed in the vicinity of Gudad village without causing casualties or material damage,” said the CTD which often reports such incidents.

The rockets were believed to have been fired from near Gugjali neighbourhood in Mosul city, the Kurdish forces added.

Turkish forces have been stationed at the base since 2015 – one year after the Islamic State (ISIS) controlled parts of Nineveh province. The base has come under rocket attacks dozens of times in recent years but such attacks have not been confirmed by Ankara.

The presence of Turkish forces in Zilkan has been widely condemned by the Iraqi government, with criticism reaching a peak when a shelling in Zakho, blamed on Turkey, on July 20 killed nine Iraqi tourists and injured tens of others.

The incident has harmed diplomatic relations between the two countries, with Iraq filing a complaint against Turkey in the United Nations Security Council.

Turkey has dozens of military bases in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, and Ankara carries out frequent aerial and ground attacks in the country on the grounds of fighting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers the PKK a terrorist organization.

Source: Rudaw