Eight missiles hit the Turkish military base in and around Zlikan on Wednesday without causing casualties, the commander of operations in Nineveh, Colonel Yousef Al-Badawi, told the Spanish news agency EFE.
“Eight Grad-type missiles hit the Zlikan base, in the Baashika area, this Wednesday morning, with the presence of Turkish troops” at the site, the army advanced.
Yousef Al-Badawi specified that “six missiles landed near the base, while two more landed inside the base”.
The Turkish colonel stated that the attack caused no casualties.
The attack was also confirmed in a brief statement by the Kurdish Anti-Terrorism Authority.
The Zlikan base has been the target of several rocket and mortar attacks, especially between 2021 and 2022.
In January last year, the same Turkish military base, located northwest of Mosul, was the target of two rocket attacks on consecutive days with no casualties.
In 2014, Turkey established Zlikan base, next to a mountain in the town of Baashika, with the presence of 3,000 to 5,000 Turkish troops, after the ‘jihadist’ group Islamic State (IS) seized control of Mosul in the north from Iraq.
Turkey has several military bases in northern Iraq, in a strip close to the border, to fight backposts of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Most of these positions are in the autonomous region of Kurdistan, with the exception of Ziklan, which is located in Nineveh province, with its capital in Mosul.
The PKK, classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has the support of some Iraqi Kurdish factions, but not the authorities in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Iraq has repeatedly called for an end to Turkish incursions and demanded cooperation to ensure security on the border with Turkey, as well as the closure of the base and the withdrawal of Turkish troops, claims that remain unanswered by Ankara.
Source: DN
