Children among 12 killed as Turkey strikes Kurdish militants in north Iraq and Syria

Turkey had accused PKK of an attack on a defence company in Ankara that left seven dead

Turkey launched strikes on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq and Syria that killed at least 12 civilians, including two children, after blaming the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) for an attack on a defence company in Ankara that left seven people dead.

The Turkish airstrikes on northern and eastern Syria also wounded 25 others, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said on Thursday. At least two people - a father and his daughter - were killed in the overnight shelling on Tal Rifat in Syria, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. Several family members were wounded in the attack.

Earlier, in the attack on Ankara, two shooters had opened fire and set off explosives at Turkish aerospace and defence company Tusas. Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler said the PKK was behind the attack that killed seven people in all, including the two assailants, and injured at least 22 people. The PKK did not comment.

Hours later, the Turkish Defence Ministry said about 32 targets were “successfully destroyed” in an aerial offensive in north Iraq and Syria. It didn't specify the locations of the strike.

“In the operations carried out, a large number of terrorists were neutralised by using maximum amount of local and national ammunition,” the ministry said. “During these operations, all kinds of precautions were taken to prevent harm to innocent civilians, friendly elements, historical and cultural assets and the environment.”

The People Protection Units (YPG), a key component of US-backed Kurdish forces that were instrumental in the fight against ISIS, is present in Tal Rifat. Ankara views the YPG as an offshoot of the PKK.

The PKK has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of civilians. Originally founded by Abdullah Ocalan in 1978, the party began its armed struggle in the 1980s for the rights of Kurds in Turkey. It is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its western allies.

The attack on Ankara disrupted a period of relative calm following a wave of attacks in 2015 and 2016. PKK attacks were typically directed at Turkish security troops and the targeting of a defence and aerospace company marks a new tactic. Tusas designs and assembles civilian and military aircraft as well as drones which have been vital in Turkey's fight against the group.

Turkey regularly strikes the PKK in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, where it has bases, and Kurdish militia groups in Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced this year that it was close to securing its border with Iraq where Ankara has posted hundreds of troops for cross-border operations.

Clashes between Turkish forces and the PKK in Iraq's Kurdish region have caused displacement, destroyed civilian infrastructure and caused wildfires, US-based Community Peacemaker Teams, a rights group that monitors the conflict, said in its July report. Recent fighting has been concentrated in Duhok province and has also affected Assyrian villages, according to the monitor.

Neither the Iraqi nor Kurdish regional governments have commented on Turkish cross-border operations. Earlier this year, Iraq announced a ban on the PKK.

The Ankara attack came a day after Nationalist Movement Party leader and Mr Erdogan's ally, Devlet Bahceli, suggested Ocalan be granted parole if he disbands his organisation. This came amid speculation that the president was seeking support in parliament to enact a new constitution that could grant him an unlimited term in power. The current law does not allow Mr Erdogan to run for office again.

Ocalan has been imprisoned since 1999. He received his first prison visit in four years on Wednesday, the same day as the attack, his nephew said on X. "Our last face-to-face meeting with Abdullah Ocalan took place on March 3, 2020," Omer Ocalan said. They met again "years later on October 23, 2024", he added.

Turkey's pro-Kurdish political party also noted the timing of the attack in its condemnation. “We find it meaningful that such an attack is taking place these days when Turkish society is talking about a solution and the possibility of dialogue is emerging,” the People's Equality and Democracy Party, widely known as DEM, said.

The party is the third-largest in the Turkish parliament and has called for improved conditions for Ocalan in prison where they claim he is being kept in isolation.