Turkey army claims to have killed 70 Kurdish fighters in Syria, Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - Turkish army on Tuesday claimed to have killed at least 70 Kurdish fighters in overnight airstrikes in Syria and Iraq.

In a statement to the state-owned Anadolu agency, the military said the attacks killed 40 Kurdish fighters in Shingal (Sinjar), the Ezidi-Kurdish town in Kurdistan Region.

In Syria, "about" 30 were killed in the attacks, said the army without further details about the targeted groups.

Among the Kurdish forces that have reported casualties in Iraq are Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga that lost five soldiers and had nine others wounded.

The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) meanwhile announced the killing of 20 of its fighters and the wounding of 18 others.

In an earlier press release on its website, the Turkish army justified its attacks on the ground that both Qarachokh in Syria and Shingal in Iraq had become “terror hubs” for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

PKK has a sizeable presence in Shingal despite objections from Kurdistan Region and threats of an invasion from Turkey.

YPG, the primary US ally in the war against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, is considered by Turkey to be a “terror” group for having ties with the PKK.

Despite friendly relations with the Kurdistan Region, Turkey has not explained why its jets also hit Peshmerga positions.

There has also been no apology from Turkish officials.

Turkish airstrikes met with “outrage,” in Washington according to American Fox News TV.

Pentagon officials told a Fox reporter that Turkey gave them and Russia one hour notice before 24 fighter jets bombed US allies despite objections from both countries.

Editing by Ava Homa