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Afghan airstrike kills 10 in Helmand; Turkish soldier killed in northern Iraq
by Staff Writers
Kandahar, Afghanistan (AFP) Oct 1, 2017


Turkish soldier killed in northern Iraq: army
Ankara (AFP) Sept 29, 2017 - A Turkish soldier was killed and three others wounded Friday in an attack by Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, the Turkish armed forces said.

The army's statement did not specify where it happened or whether it was within the area of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

The incident occurred just days after Iraqi Kurdistan voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence in a non-binding referendum bitterly opposed by Turkey.

The military pointed the finger at the "separatist terrorist organisation" -- its term for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Turkey has maintained a military presence around Bashiqa outside the city of Mosul much to the annoyance of Baghdad. Bashiqa is not within the area controlled by the KRG.

Although Turkish troops have no ground presence inside the KRG, they regularly conduct air raids against PKK militants who have rear bases in the Qandil mountain area.

The PKK has waged an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984 and is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, Washington and Brussels.

The Turkish military earlier said it struck the Avasin-Basyan and Qandil regions, destroying weapon stores and killing three in PKK camps who were preparing attacks.

An Afghan airstrike killed 10 security forces in volatile Helmand on Sunday, an official said, as the country's military attempts to oust Taliban insurgents from a stronghold.

At least nine Afghan police were wounded in the "erroneous" airstrike in the southern province's Gereshk district and an investigation is under way, Helmand governor Hayatullah Hayat told AFP.

"The airstrike happened as Afghan forces were pushing to break through the Taliban frontline in the strategic area that has been the scene of heavy fighting over the past several days," Hayat said.

The incident, which was confirmed by Afghanistan's defence ministry, comes more than two months after a US airstrike killed 16 Afghan police and wounded two others in the same district, large parts of which are under Taliban control.

That attack came on the back of a US strike in Helmand's Sangin district that killed at least 18 civilians, mostly women and children, in February.

A US airstrike in the Afghan capital Kabul a few days ago wounded six members of the same family after a missile malfunctioned and landed on the wrong house, adding to the civilian toll from the grinding conflict.

The number of civilians killed and wounded was at a record high in the first six months of 2017, a recent UN report shows, made worse by the Afghan Air Force carrying out its own airstrikes along with US Forces.

"Airstrikes carried out by international and Afghan air forces caused 590 civilian casualties (in 2016), nearly double that recorded in 2015," a separate UN report shows, with women and children accounting for more than half of the victims.

The withdrawal of US-led NATO combat troops at the end of 2014 enabled the Taliban to regain control of opium-rich Helmand which has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the 16-year war.

Much of it remains controlled or contested by the Taliban who are heavily reliant on the proceeds of drug trafficking to fuel their insurgency.

In April, about 300 US Marines returned to Helmand as part of NATO's train and assist mission to help embattled Afghan security forces get the upper hand against the insurgents.

THE STANS
Turkey wants summit with Iran and Iraq; Kurds reject 'collective punishment'
Ankara (AFP) Sept 28, 2017
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Thursday he wants to hold a summit with Iranian and Iraqi leaders to coordinate how to respond to the controversial Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum. "We are planning to come together in the near future to coordinate the steps to be taken for the next period with regard to these issues," Yildirim told reporters in the central Turkish provin ... read more

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