Turkey steps up airstrikes against Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq after 12 soldiers were killed

By ABDELRAHMAN ZEYAD and HOGIR ABDO
Associated Press

QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — Turkey has intensified its airstrikes against Kurdish groups in Syria and northern Iraq in retaliation for the deaths of 12 Turkish soldiers in Iraq over the weekend. The Turkish defense ministry said in a statement Monday that it had killed at least 26 militants in airstrikes. In Qamishili, in northeast Syria, at least six civilians were killed in Turkish airstrikes Monday, according to a local hospital official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a United Kingdom-based war monitor, also said six civilians were killed. Turkey has carried out 124 strikes in northeast Syria in 2023, killing 92 people.