BEIRUT, LEBANON (4:10 P.M.) - Turkish President Recent Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday that his country's forces have begun anti-terror operations deep inside Iraqi territory.
"We've started anti-terror operations in Qandil and Sinjar. We've destroyed 14 important targets with 20 of our aircrafts," Erdogan stated, as quoted by state-owned TRT World News.
"Our target is to drain the biggest swamp," Erdogan added in reference to the large presence of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The military invasion of the Qandil Mountains of Iraq has been on the radar of the Turkish General Staff for quite some time, as they have launched several airstrikes in the past few months.
Despite not having Baghdad's blessing to launch this offensive, Turkey is planning on going through with this operation in order to eliminate the PKK from the border region.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/turkey-announces-start-of-military-operation-deep-inside-iraqi-territory/