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Four killed in Iraqi airstrike blamed on Turkey

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Four people were killed on Monday in an airstrike blamed on Turkey in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Kurdish sources.

Turkey often carries out ground and air operations in northern Iraq against positions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long war against the Turkish state.

“A Turkish drone struck a civilian car at 3:20 p.m. (1220 GMT) killing … two women and two men,” said a security source in the Raparin area, north of the city of Sulaimaniyah.

“Their identities remain unknown,” the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Kamran Othman from the US-based Community Peacemakers Teams (CPT) monitoring Turkish operations in Iraqi Kurdistan, confirmed the attack took place.

“Two women and two men were killed,” said Othman, adding that a fifth person on a nearby motorcycle was wounded.

The PKK, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, holds positions in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, which also hosts Turkish military bases.

During a visit to Baghdad on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called for combined regional efforts to combat the PKK in Iraq as well as Kurdish fighters in neighboring Syria, whom Ankara accuses of links to the outlawed group.

“I want to emphasize this fact in the strongest way possible: The PKK is targeting Turkey, Iraq and Syria,” Fidan said.

Baghdad has recently sharpened its tone against the PKK, and last year it quietly listed the group as a “banned organization” — though Ankara demands the Iraqi government do more in the fight against the militant group.

Fidan said Turkey hoped Baghdad would declare the PKK a terrorist organization.

In August Baghdad and Ankara signed a military cooperation deal to establish joint command and training centers with the aim of fighting the PKK.

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