Turkey began air and ground military operations in the Kurdistan Region, in mid-June, with the stated aim of removing suspected PKK targets from the area. The offensive continues despite calls from Kurdish and Iraqi government to stop it. So far, five civilians have been killed by Turkish airstrikes.
Led by the head of the Iraqi border guard brigade Lt. Gen. Hamid Abdullah, a high-level Iraqi military delegation arrived in Duhok province on June 22 to investigate the aftermath of the Sheladize attack which killed four civilians.
Dler Farzanda commander of the Iraqi border guards Force 1 said at a press conference on Thursday that Abdullah had ordered him to mobilize some troops to “dominant and significant” positions in Zakho “to limit Turkey-PKK clashes in the area and prevent them from causing more civilian losses.”
“Therefore, we mobilized our forces to five positions on Wednesday. These places are in the Kere mountains and Kala Shabaniye region, which are strategic areas and important for the security of the area.”
The force was established in 2003 and has been based in Zakho since, according to its commander, who says Wednesday’s troop movement is an act of mobilizing local forces, rather than deploying new ones to the area.
Dilsher Abdulsattar, the head of the Batifa sub-dustrict, told Rudaw on Wednesday that the presence of the force is “to prevent further Turkish advances into the Kurdistan Region and secure the people of the area,” adding that the selected spots are strategic.
Farzanda also mentioned that Turkey has advanced by 14-15 kilometers into the Kurdistan Region since June 15, invading 12 positions in the town of Zakho.
The border guard force has coordinated with the Peshmerga ministry, and Peshmerga forces will help “if any developments come up,” says Farzanda.
Baghdad has informed Ankara about the mobilization of Force 1 to the five positions, stated Farzanda, who claimed that “if ordered to advance, we will go to the very line of the border.”
The Iraqi foreign ministry has summoned the Turkish ambassador to Baghdad twice, but this has failed to de-escalated the tensions or halt Turkey’s offensive.
According to intelligence information obtained by Rudaw, from the eighties to mid-June 2020, Turkey established military bases in 24 strategic locations in the areas of Kani Masi, Deralok and Shiladze.
The US State Department has called for the coordination of Turkey, Iraq, and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to defeat PKK.
"The United States calls on Turkey and Iraq, including the KRG, to work together to defeat the PKK," a spokesperson told Rudaw late Wednesday.
