Turkish jets strike Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria following attack on defence company

Turkiye’s air force struck Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday in apparent retaliation for an attack at a key state-run defence company that killed five people and wounded more than a dozen others.

Turkiye’s air force struck Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday in an apparent retaliation for an attack at a key state-run defence company that killed five people and wounded more than a dozen others.

The defence ministry said more than 30 targets were “destroyed” in the aerial offensive, without providing details on the locations that were hit. It said “all kinds of precautions” were taken to prevent harms to civilians.

The strike came hours after suspected Kurdish militants set off explosives and opened fire at the aerospace and defence company TUSAS. The two attackers — a man and a woman — also were killed, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

Yerlikaya said the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, was believed to be behind the attack at the defence company. Defence Minister Yasar Guler also pointed the finger at the PKK.

“We give these PKK scoundrels the punishment they deserve every time. But they never come to their senses,” Guler said. “We will pursue them until the last terrorist is eliminated.”

There was no immediate statement from the PKK.

The Islamic State group and leftist extremists have also carried out past attacks in Turkiye.