Turkish strikes kill eight Kurdish fighters in Iraq and Syria

The violence is the latest in a monthslong escalation between Turkey and Turkish-backed groups and Kurdish fighters

A Turkish-backed Syrian rebel fighter on the frontlines with the Syrian Democratic Forces in the countryside outside Manbij. AFP

Kurdish-led armed groups in Iraq and Syria alleged that Turkish air strikes killed eight of their fighters on Friday.

The counterterrorism service of the regional government in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq said that four members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, were killed and another was wounded in a Turkish drone strike in Sharbazher district in Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

The drone attacked a vehicle carrying PKK fighters near the village of Rangina, it said.

Also Friday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which control much of north-east Syria, said that four of its fighters were killed by a Turkish drone attack on the village of Khirbet Khwei in the Amuda region.

The statement accused Turkey of “aiming at undermining security and stability in the region”.

There was no comment from Turkey on the strikes.

The violence was the latest in a monthslong escalation between Turkey and Turkish-backed groups and Kurdish fighters in Syria and Iraq.

Turkey has spent years fighting Kurdish militants in its east and large Kurdish communities live in neighbouring Iraq and Syria, where they have a degree of self-rule. Turkey considers the main Kurdish militia in north-east Syria an ally of the outlawed PKK. The PKK has for decades waged an insurgency within Turkey.

Turkish strikes in northern Iraq have been a bone of contention with the Iraqi government, which has condemned them as an attack on its sovereignty.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit Iraq in the near future, where the PKK activities and Turkish strikes in the Kurdish region are likely to be points of discussion.