Turkey bombs targets: Kurdish militia announces retaliation after attacks

Turkey is conducting dozens of airstrikes against Kurdish targets in northern Syria and Iraq in response to the bombing in central Istanbul. There are numerous victims. The Kurds deny involvement in the attack. At the same time, they promise a reaction.

The Kurdish militia in northern Syria has announced retaliation for Turkish attacks on their positions. “These attacks by the occupying Turkish forces will not go unanswered,” said a statement by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by the YPG militia. Turkey had flown airstrikes on militant Kurdish bases in northern Syria and northern Iraq during the night, according to its own statements, responding to the bomb attack in Istanbul last weekend.

The airstrikes were directed against positions of the Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK, which is banned in Turkey, and the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG, the Turkish Defense Ministry said. 89 targets were destroyed. At least 27 people were killed and 38 injured, some seriously, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The SDF reported eleven dead civilians, including a journalist.

Among other things, places near Kobanê and Aleppo were bombed, it said. A post by the Syrian government was also a goal. Syrian soldiers were killed in the attacks, the activists and Syria’s state news agency Sana reported. Turkey named the northern Iraqi towns of Kandil, Asus, Hakurk and the Syrian towns of Tall Rifat, Kobane, Jazeera and Al-Malikiyah as targets.

After the offensive began at night, there were further attacks in the region over the course of Sunday, the Syrian Observatory reported. Among other things, Kobanê has a strong symbolic character for many Kurds. The Kurds once liberated the city from IS with international help.

The pro-Kurdish party HDP in Turkey sharply condemned the attacks. The government is using the attack in Istanbul as an excuse to take action against Kobanê, which has “inspired the oppressed of this world” with its “epic resistance” against IS, it said.

The SDF said Turkish planes also shelled two villages of internally displaced people in northern Syria in the attacks. The attacks also destroyed civilian infrastructure, including grain silos, a power plant and a hospital. According to Turkey, the 89 targets destroyed included bunkers, tunnels and ammunition depots. Heads of the “terrorist organization” were also rendered harmless.

The government in Ankara blames militant Kurds for the attack on Istanbul’s busy shopping street Istiklal Caddesi. Six people were killed and more than 80 injured. “It’s time to give an account of Istiklal,” tweeted Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin. The PKK and the Syrian Democratic Forces deny involvement in the bombing.

The PKK has been fighting the Turkish state since 1984. It is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the European Union. Washington has allied itself with the YPG in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria, which has led to a rift with NATO ally Turkey.