Turkish airstrikes target Erbil's Bradost area

The airstrikes hit Barbzeen county and Mount Bole in the Bradost district, Ihsan Chalabi, the mayor of Sidakan, told Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday.

A Turkish fighter jet. (Photo: AFP)
A Turkish fighter jet. (Photo: AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkish warplanes targeted the Bradost countryside of the Kurdistan Region's Erbil province on Tuesday, according to a local mayor.

These Turkish attacks follow a series of previous airstrikes against suspected PKK positions in Makhmour and Sinjar on Feb. 2.

The airstrikes hit Barbzeen county and Mount Bole in the Bradost district, Ihsan Chalabi, the mayor of Sidakan, told Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday.

The Bradost district is located northeast of the Kurdistan Region capital near borders with Turkey and Iran.

Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) fighters are present in the areas hit by the Turkish strikes, Chalabi said, adding that no civilian causalities were recorded.

Much of the decades-long conflict between the PKK and Ankara has taken place in the mountainous areas of the Kurdistan Region, where border towns and their inhabitants are at risk of being targeted.

According to the latest Crisis Group figures, nearly 6,000 people, combatants and civilians alike, have been killed by the ongoing clashes since 2015.

In addition to airstrikes, Turkey recently launched two new ground operations against the PKK.

The Kurdistan Region's authorities have routinely called on both Turkey and the PKK to take their fight out of the Kurdistan Region to prevent harm from befalling the autonomous region's civilians.