At least 31 people were killed and dozens injured following Turkey's deadly airstrikes over northern regions of Syria and Iraq on Sunday, republicworld.com reports.
According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, it has targeted Kurdish groups which it alleged were responsible for a bomb attack in Istanbul. In a statement released following the airstrikes, the defence ministry said the fighter jets attacked bases of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and the Syrian People’s Protection Units, or YPG.
Further, it said a total of 89 targets were destroyed and a “large number” of what it designated “terrorists” were killed in strikes. The main target of the attack ranged from Tall Rifat in northwest Syria to the Qandil mountains in Iraq’s northeast. In a statement, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the airstrikes were meant to ensure the security of Turkish citizens and added it could also be taken as a retaliatory attack on Istanbul.
“Our aim is to ensure the security of our 85 million citizens and our borders and to retaliate for any treacherous attack on our country,” he said, according to a ministry statement.
