April 2017 Turkish airstrikes in Syria and Iraq
| April 2017 Turkish airstrikes in Syria and Iraq | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, the Iraqi Civil War (2014–present), the Rojava conflict, and the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present) | |
| Type | Airstrike |
| Location | Al-Malikiyah District, al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria Mount Sinjar, Nineveh Governorate, Iraq |
| Commanded by |
 General Staff of the Republic of Turkey
|
| Target | |
| Date | 25 April 2017 02:00 EEST (UTC+03:00) |
| Executed by |
 Turkish Air Force
|
| Casualties |
70 killed (Turkish claim)
|
70 killed (Turkish claim)
In the morning of 25 April 2017, the Turkish Air Force conducted multiple bombing raids against the headquarters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) in northeastern Syria, while simultaneously launching airstrikes against positions of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) on Mount Sinjar, northwestern Iraq. The airstrikes killed 20 YPG and YPJ fighters in Syria in addition to 5 Peshmerga soldiers in Iraq.
The attacks were authorized by the General Staff of the Republic of Turkey, who claimed that the bombings targeted the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and were attempts to prevent the PKK from "sending terrorists, arms, ammunition and explosives" to Turkey. At around 2 a.m. EEST, Turkish planes conducted several airstrikes on YPG and YPJ positions atop Mount Qarachok, near the town of al-Malikiyah. The targets of the airstrikes were a YPG media center, a radio station, a telecommunications facility, and military bases. The bombings killed 12 YPJ and 8 YPG fighters and injured 18 more.
At around 2:30 a.m., Turkish planes bombed suspected PKK positions atop Mount Sinjar. The airstrikes hit a Peshmerga communications tower and killed 5 Peshmerga soldiers and injured 9 more. According to the mayor of Sinjar city, no casualties were reported among the PKK.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of Turkey, stated that "We are obliged to take measures. We must take steps" after the airstrikes. Turkey claimed to have contacted the United States, Russia, and Masoud Barzani, President of Iraqi Kurdistan, prior to the attacks. In response to the airstrike on a Peshmerga position which killed 5 of their soldiers, Erdoğan stated that it was "absolutely not an operation against [them]."
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Wikipedia