ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Suspected Turkish warplanes struck the surroundings of Galala village, Mawat town, in Sulaimani province late Wednesday night, on grounds of targetting Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) positions, despite significant advances of peace talks between the two sides, a human rights watchdog reported.
“At 11:40 pm, Turkish warplanes intensively bombed the Zhazholan valley in Galala village,” Kamaran Osman, a member of the Community Peacemaker Team (CPT) announced in a Facebook post.
Osman added that “due to the proximity of the bombings, the entire residents of Galala village felt the impact of the bombings as their houses were shaken.”
Turkey has not claimed responsibility for the attack, nor has the PKK spoken on the matter at hand.
CPT is a human rights watchdog monitoring Turkey's operations in the Kurdistan Region.
The suspected Turkish attacks come days after jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan called on the group’s fighters to disarm and end their armed struggle against the Turkish state. Turkey has long justified its military operations in Iraq by citing the presence of PKK fighters in the country’s northern Kurdistan Region.
The PKK is an armed group that has fought for increased Kurdish rights in Turkey for decades. The group, designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara, uses mountainous areas of the Kurdistan Region as shelter and often engages in direct armed conflict with Turkey.
Turkey carried out over 800 attacks on the Kurdistan Region and northern Iraq in 2024, leading to the death of dozens and the displacement of thousands of civilians, according to the CPT.
The bombing also came just hours after Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qassim al-Araji said that Baghdad wants the withdrawal of the PKK and the Turkish army from the country’s territories once the peace deal between the two sides has been finalized.
"We don't want either the PKK or the Turkish army on our land,” Araji told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday. “Iraq wants everyone to withdraw.”
“Turkey has said more than once that it has no territorial ambitions in Iraq,” Araji added.
Headquartered in the Kurdistan Region’s Mount Qandil, the PKK is an armed group that has fought for increased Kurdish rights in Turkey for decades. The group is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara, Europe, and the US.
Turkish forces have established military positions deep inside Iraqi territory, particularly in Duhok province, where operations have caused civilian casualties, destroyed farmland, and resulted in the establishment of multiple military bases in border villages.
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