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3 Jul, 2020 16:29

Iraqi military sets up border posts to prevent Turkish advance as Ankara targets Kurdish rebels

Iraqi military sets up border posts to prevent Turkish advance as Ankara targets Kurdish rebels

Iraqi troops are enforcing positions along the border with Turkey to prevent Turkish forces from advancing deeper into Iraqi territory, officials said on Friday. Ankara has been conducting airstrikes for two weeks, targeting Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

Security officials said Turkey has established at least a dozen posts inside Iraqi territory as part of a military campaign to rout members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The air-and-land campaign Operation Claw-Tiger began on June 17, when Turkey airlifted troops into northern Iraq.

Since then, at least six Iraqi civilians have been killed as Turkish jets pound PKK targets, and several villages in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region have been evacuated, AP reported.

Iraqi border guards have erected two posts in the Khankiri range, according to Brigadier Delir Zebari, commander of the First Brigade of the Iraqi Border Guards, which have been tasked with securing a 245km (153-mile) stretch of border territory.