Turkish base near Mosul hit with four rockets
The armed group Ahrar al-Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack and said they fired four Grad 122mm missiles at the base.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Saturday, Turkey's Zilkan base near Mosul came under attack with four missiles.
Zilkan's District Director Mohammed Amin announced that the Turkish army headquarters in the district was targeted by missiles.
The Zelkan military base is located in the north of the city of Mosul and Turkish army forces are stationed there.
The armed group Ahrar al-Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack and said they fired four Grad 122mm missiles at the base.
Armed groups backed by Iran have regularly claimed responsibility for attacks targeting the Zilkan base.
In 2015, Turkey established the Zilkan base near Mosul for the fight against ISIS and to train local forces, despite opposition by Baghdad.
At the beginning of the offensive in Oct. 2016, Turkey declared it would keep its troops in Iraq "until the [ISIS] was expelled" from its stronghold of Mosul despite calls from Baghdad to withdraw their forces.
Now that ISIS is territorially defeated in Mosul, Turkey still keeps its forces in the Bashiqa base.