The Turkish Defense Ministry announced that it had hit "32 targets" of the PKK and its allies in northern Iraq and Syria, following the attack that killed at least five people in Ankara and which the government blamed on the Kurdish Workers' Party.
"In accordance with our rights to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter, an air operation was conducted against terrorist targets in northern Iraq and Syria: a total of 32 targets belonging to terrorists were successfully destroyed," the ministry said in a statement, adding that "air operations continue."
The attack
A loud explosion in front of the gates and then two armed men who enter, shooting wildly, into the headquarters of the Aerospace Industry (Tusas) in the province of Ankara, in Kahramankazan, about fifty kilometers from the capital. It was just after 3:30 PM in Turkey when hell broke loose with a terrorist attack that caused the death of at least five people, in addition to 22 wounded.
Eleven Italian technicians who were in the area - most of them Leonardo employees and engaged in industrial collaboration activities within the framework of aeronautical programs started years ago with Turkey - remained unharmed.
The two terrorists, a man and a woman, captured on security cameras at the time of the attack, were later killed in the raid by special forces who entered the building. One of the attackers is said to have taken 11 people hostage before being shot.
The Turkish government immediately pointed the finger at the Kurds of the PKK. According to leaks, the terrorists apparently arrived in a taxi at the large building of the Aerospace Industry, where thousands of employees work. Once there, they killed the driver, got out and detonated a device, although initially rumors spread on social media of a suicide attack.
After the explosion, the two men headed towards the building, shooting, and the man managed to get in. "The attacker then tried to break into the human resources department and the academy," an anonymous source told Middle East Eye, adding that "eleven hostages were freed after a special forces operation, with gunfire and explosions."
The attack took place while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was at the BRICS summit in Russia and was meeting with President Vladimir Putin. The Turkish leader called the attack "cowardly" and said that "no terrorist organization targeting our security will be able to achieve its goals," promising that "the fight against all types of terrorist threats, and their supporters, will continue with determination and resolve."
(Online Union)
