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Turkey launched two brand-new operations in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
The operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) began in the provinces of Sirnak and Hakkari on April 29th.
The operation in Sirnak province is code-named Eren Cudi-Besta and the one in Hakkari province is code-named Eren Kazan-Ogul.
They are named after a 15-year-old boy who was a collateral damage death in a clash between Turkish Forces and the PKK in Iraq’s Trabzon province.
Ankara also said that these two new operations are in conjunction with the Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt operations, launched in the Kurdistani Duhok province less than 7 days ago.
As of April 26th, Turkey reported on their wild success – armed forces struck about 460 targets, and have neutralized at least 42 members of the PKK.
It should be noted that Ankara greatly enjoys overestimating its achievements in such operations.
On the other side, the PKK claimed that its fighters killed 21 Turkish service members in a series of operations between April 27th and 29th, while Turkey reported a single serviceman losing his life and two others being injured.
Furthermore the PKK said that its fighters had had attacked a secret Turkish base near the village of Sheladize in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region on April 27th.
The group targeted two M60 battle tanks, which were parked in the base, with anti-tank guided missiles.
Even beyond operations, hostilities between Turkey, Turkish-backed forces and Kurdish groups are commonplace.
All of this takes place in addition to regular airstrikes by the Turkish air force.
Ankara’s encroachment on Iraq’s borders simply adds to the chaos that Baghdad has to deal with.
On April 29, Iraqi security forces foiled a terrorist attack and killed a suicide bomber in the center of the northern province of Kirkuk.
ISIS hasn’t claimed responsibility for the attack, but the terrorist group is quite active in the province.
On April 24, ISIS terrorists attacked a post of the Iraqi Federal Police near the town of al-Suss.
On April 28, the terrorists carried out a second, bolder attack by pounding a base of the Iraqi military in al-Zarkah with five mortar shells.
Further south in Iraq, ISIS terrorists raided a post of the Iraqi military in the southern countryside of the western province of al-Anbar.
The militants stormed the post, which is located on the border with Saudi Arabia, without facing any real resistance.
The post’s personnel fled, leaving behind their weapons and equipment.
They set it on fire and simply left.
Meanwhile, United States supply convoys continue blowing up as a result of constant IED attacks.
Thus, US forces are focused on their general security rather than assisting the Iraqi Armed Forces and the Popular Mobilization Units in containing ISIS.
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