“Two of the five rockets landed inside the military base in Zilkan town in Nineveh province’s Bashiqa. The rest fell on Bashiqa Mountain, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism Group,” the report said.
This is important because it appears to be part of an uptick of pro-Iranian militias using rockets to target both the US in the Kurdistan region, as well as Turkey. Iran fired ballistic missiles at Erbil on March 12, and they landed near the site of a new US consulate. Later, Iran claimed it was targeting a “Mossad” facility and further reports even claimed this was related to energy ties between the Kurdish region and Turkey.
The attack targeting the Turkish base near Bashiqa is not the first, as it was targeted in December 2021 and also January 2022, with reports staying that there was also an attack in November 2021. This means that there are increasing attacks on Turkish forces in Iraq.
Turkey has established bases in Iraq to fight what it claims are “terrorists.” Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have increasingly opposed Turkey’s role in Iraq and it’s unclear if the rocket attack is a message or if the rockets were intended to kill. There were no casualties as a result of Tuesday's missiles, reports said. READ MORE
