Turkey has carried out air strikes on nearly 100 Kurdish targets in northern Syria and Iraq that it has labelled “terrorist” headquarters and training camps.
A first piece of footage shows Turkish fighter jets taxiing on a runway at night at an undisclosed location before they are seen taking to the sky, with the images subsequently showing the areas that were bombed by Turkey.
Other images also reportedly show Turkish ordnance being used in the Kurdish positions.
The images were obtained from the Ministry of Defence of Turkey on Sunday, 20th November, along with a statement saying that “so-called headquarters and training camps belonging to terrorists who threaten our country, nation and border security were destroyed”.
The strikes, which reportedly hit 89 targets, were carried out on Sunday by Turkish air force jets, according to local media, in an operation called “Operation Claw-Sword”.
The strikes were reportedly carried out after an attack in Istanbul on 13th November killed six people and wounded 81 more, with Ankara blaming Kurdish militants for the blast.
This is despite the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) denying any involvement.
The ministry also said in a statement that the strikes had targeted bases of the PKK and the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Turkey says is affiliated with the PKK.
But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in the UK, said that the strikes had killed at least 31 people.
The Turkish Defence Ministry said: “Air Operation Claw-Sword was successfully carried out, within the scope of our strategy to eradicate terrorism at its source and eliminate terror attacks against our people and security forces from northern Iraq and Syria.”
The ministry said the strikes had hit northern Iraq’s mountainous regions of Kandil, Asos and Hakurk, and bases of the YPG, in the Ayn al-Arab, Tal Rifaat, Jazira and Derik regions in Syria.
