Rocket hits airport in Diyarbakir after Turkey's first combat casualty in Syria
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A rocket propelled-grenade (RPG) hit an airport in Turkey’s Kurdish southeast on Sunday, as the country suffered its first casualty in Syria since launching a military operation four days ago.
No one was hurt in the RPG attack on an airport in the predominantly Kurdish-majority Diyarbakir early Sunday, which caused minor damage, the official Anadolu news agency reported.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but Turkish authorities blamed it on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), with which Ankara has been fighting a war that reignited in July 2015, following the collapse of a three-and-a-half year ceasefire.
The attack came a day after Turkey suffered its first combat casualty in its Euphrates Shield military operation in Syria. One soldier was killed and three wounded on Saturday when rockets were launched at Turkish tanks operating seven kilometers south of the Syrian border town of Jarablus, which they swiftly captured from Islamic State (ISIS) militants on Wednesday.
Sources in the Turkish military cited by Reuters claimed the attack was reportedly carried out from territory controlled by the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), a group Turkey says is closely affiliated with the PKK.
Turkey's intervention in northwestern Syria is targeting both the YPG and ISIS. On Saturday, YPG positions were hit by Turkish air and artillery attacks.
No one was hurt in the RPG attack on an airport in the predominantly Kurdish-majority Diyarbakir early Sunday, which caused minor damage, the official Anadolu news agency reported.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but Turkish authorities blamed it on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), with which Ankara has been fighting a war that reignited in July 2015, following the collapse of a three-and-a-half year ceasefire.
The attack came a day after Turkey suffered its first combat casualty in its Euphrates Shield military operation in Syria. One soldier was killed and three wounded on Saturday when rockets were launched at Turkish tanks operating seven kilometers south of the Syrian border town of Jarablus, which they swiftly captured from Islamic State (ISIS) militants on Wednesday.
Sources in the Turkish military cited by Reuters claimed the attack was reportedly carried out from territory controlled by the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), a group Turkey says is closely affiliated with the PKK.
Turkey's intervention in northwestern Syria is targeting both the YPG and ISIS. On Saturday, YPG positions were hit by Turkish air and artillery attacks.