"And we’ve expressed those concerns to the Government of Turkey directly,” said Mark Toner, the US State Department deputy spokesman. “These airstrikes were not approved by the Coalition and led to the unfortunate loss of life of our partner forces in the fight against ISIS that includes members of the Kurdish Peshmerga.”
Brett McGurk, the US special presidential envoy for the coalition, reiterated the position of the State Department.
“[The] US expresses deep concerns; strikes not coordinated with, nor approved by, coalition; led to unfortunate loss of life,” he wrote in a tweet on Wednesday afternoon.
In ordering the strikes, the US has stated Turkey acted unilaterally outside its scope as a member of the US-led international coalition to defeat ISIS.
Toner, referring to coalition activity in the “complex battle space” in northern Iraq and Syria, said “it’s vital that Turkey and all partners in the effort to defeat ISIS coordinate their actions as closely as possible…”
Turkey has said it will continue its operations in Shingal.
“Our operations in Shingal and northern Syria will continue,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday night.
Erdogan said he regretted the death of several members of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, also deployed in Shingal during the Turkish operation and made clear that Turkey's action was "absolutely not an operation against the Peshmerga."
Turkey’s bombings, which also killed one Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)-affiliated fighter in Shingal, threaten the safety of coalition personnel, according to the State Department.
The United States has at least 5,000 military personnel in Iraq various advise and assist roles, in addition to other countries’ forces, who have been training Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
“We work together to maintain pressure to destroy ISIS on the battlefield in order to ensure that we meet that goal but also that we ensure the safety of all coalition personnel who are operating in that … theater,” Toner said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday evening that “Turkey shouldn’t violate the Iraqi sovereignty.”
"I would also note that the concerns,” Toner added, “or rather note the concerns expressed by the Government of Iraq and reaffirm our view that military action in Iraq should respect Iraqi sovereignty.
All major political parties in the Kurdistan Region condemned the strikes that killed five Peshmerga and left nine wounded.
A Shingal Protection Units (YBS) commander, Mazloum Shingali, confirmed the death of a fighter in the airstrikes.
Turkey has been conducting airstrikes against PKK bases along in border areas of Iraq and Syria.
The Turkish military said “40 terrorists were killed in northern Iraq and 30 terrorists were killed in northeastern Syria in an airstrike,” the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News wrote.
According to Hurriyet, the Turkish General Staff said the targets were hit to prevent the group from sending "terrorists," arms, ammunition, and explosives to Turkey.
The mayor of Shingal called on Turkey and the PKK not to transfer their decade-long rivalries to Shingal.
“We call on Turkey and the PKK not to bring in their conflicts to Shingal. Shingal itself is already in wreckage. It needs the language of dialogue of reconstruction,” Mahma Khalil said.
