Islam Times - Rockets Fired at Turkish Military base in Iraq’s Nineveh Province

Islam Times - A military base housing Turkish forces has come under rocket attack in northern Iraq, where Turkish military forces are engaged in operations against positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group.

The Iraqi Arabic-language al-Forat television network reported that three rockets were launched at Zilkan base in Bashiqa region of Nineveh province late on Tuesday.

Mayor of the Sheikhan district, Sardar Yahya, said the rockets were apparently launched from the direction of Mosul city, and fortunately did not inflict casualties on the local population.

On November 8, the same Turkish military base was targeted by at least two missiles. There were no reports of causalities as a result of the attack on the camp, which lies north of Mosul.

On May 3, Iraqi Foreign Ministry summoned Turkish chargé d'affairs in Baghdad to submit a letter of protest over Ankara’s ongoing violations in Kurdistan region, including the presence of the Turkish defense minister in the area without prior coordination.

The ministry also denounced Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu’s statements about establishing a permanent Turkish military base in northern Iraq.

Turkish military forces launched operations Pence-Simsek and Pence-Yildirim on April 23 in northern Iraq’s Metina and Avasin-Basyan regions in pursuit of PKK militants.

Militants of the PKK — designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union — regularly clash with Turkish forces in the Kurdish-dominated southeast of Turkey attached to northern Iraq.

A shaky ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015. Attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since.

More than 40,000 people have been killed during the three-decade conflict between Turkey and the autonomy-seeking militant group.