SULAIMANIYAH/Iraq: Turkey and Iran are increasingly adopting “game-changing” drones as their weapon of choice against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, prompting fears for the safety of civilians and stoking geopolitical tensions.
“Not a day goes by without us seeing a drone,” said Mohammad Hassan, mayor of Qandil, the mountainous Iraqi stronghold of Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“They fly so low Qandil’s residents can see them with their naked eye,” Hassan told AFP.
The PKK has used Qandil for decades as a rear-base for its insurgency against the Turkish state.
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDK-I) has similar rear-bases in other remote areas of Iraqi Kurdistan, from which it launches attacks across the border into Iran.
Turkey and Iran consider the Kurdish rebels as “terrorists” and routinely conduct cross-border ground assaults, air strikes and artillery bombardments against their Iraq bases.
Starting in 2018, both countries began using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance and even targeted assassinations in northern Iraq.
Drone use has expanded dramatically since Turkey launched a new assault in June, analysts and residents of affected areas told AFP.
Activists said dozens of border villages and adjacent farms have been abandoned by their terrified residents.
The drone strikes have also prevented thousands of Yazidis from returning to their homes in Sinjar district, close to the Syrian border, where PKK elements now have a presence.
“The Turkish bombing causes so much terror, so Yazidis are not coming home,” Sinjar Mayor Mahma Khalil told AFP.
Despite public criticism, Turkey has continued its drone warfare — likely because of new strides against the PKK.
For years, the PKK sheltered in Iraq’s mountains, where manned warplanes and ground troops struggled to reach them.
But drones have allowed Ankara to track, identify and eliminate PKK targets within minutes, Nicholas Heras of the Institute for the Study of War told AFP.
“Turkey’s use of military drones in northern Iraq has been a game-changer in its war against the PKK,” he said.
Ankara is now swapping expensive fighter-bombers like the US F-16 for drones like the domestically-produced Bayraktar TB2, which has better surveillance, can fly for 24 hours and is cheaper — so “expendable” if downed by the PKK, said Turkish drone expert Sibel Duz.
In an exclusive interview in Qandil, PKK spokesman Zagros Hiwa told AFP Turkey had created a 15 km buffer zone in northern Iraq with the help of its drones.
“Our forces have downed seven drones this year,” he said, declining to provide details of PKK losses.
The PKK has had limited success with improvised drones of its own, commercial models fitted with explosives.
A US source familiar with Turkey’s drones program said US special operations forces in northern Iraq were bristling at the new “frequency and intensity” of strikes.
“The Turks are overflying US positions with armed assets, which is a no-no. There is general mistrust and irritation over all this,” the source said.
Iran first began deploying aircraft fitted with cameras during its 1980-88 war with Iraq.
The newer MoHajjer-6 and Shahed-129 are Tehran’s weapons of choice for northern Iraq, said Adam Rawnsley, who tracks Iranian drones for the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
“The way Iran is using drones against Kurdish targets in Iraq is 180 degrees different than how they use drones everywhere else. It’s much more sophisticated,” he said.
In a rare interview this spring, the head of Tehran’s drone division Col. Akbar Karimloo told local media Iran uses the aircraft for both surveillance and attack, and to provide forward observation for artillery and missile launchers.
Earlier this month, Iran said it would “take coordinated steps” with Turkey to counter Kurdish rebel activity along its borders. It did not specifically mention drones.
Baghdad and Kurdish authorities have said little on the expanding drone campaigns, and Iraqi officials have told AFP privately they have no leverage over Turkey or Iran.
After a Turkish drone strike killed two top Iraqi officers in the north in August, Baghdad expressed outrage but did not pressure Ankara.
“The general problem Iraq has is that larger powers tend to use it as a shooting gallery,” Rawnsley told AFP.
Wim Zwijnenburg, who works on disarmament for Dutch peace organization PAX, said avenues for recourse were limited.
“A lot of these strikes are in areas which are not very populated, so there’s little information from people or journalists on the ground,” he said.
Indeed, neither activists nor officials could provide a specific death toll from drone strikes in the north.
“That only adds to the obscurity of the drone campaigns,” Zwijnenburg told AFP.
Turkey, Iran deploy drones in north Iraq against Kurd rebels
https://arab.news/p9882
Turkey, Iran deploy drones in north Iraq against Kurd rebels
- The PKK has used Qandil for decades as a rear-base for its insurgency against the Turkish state
Gaza strikes ‘unconscionable’, says UN humanitarian coordinator
- “Waves of airstrikes occurred across the Gaza strip since the early hours of the morning ... This is unconscionable. A ceasefire must be reinstated immediately” Muhannad Hadi said in a statement
“Waves of airstrikes occurred across the Gaza strip since the early hours of the morning ... This is unconscionable. A ceasefire must be reinstated immediately” Muhannad Hadi said in a statement.
Gaza death toll rises as Israeli strikes shatter ceasefire with Hamas
- Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killing at least 254 Palestinians, including women and children
- The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing at least 254 Palestinians, including women and children, according to hospital officials. The surprise bombardment threatened to wreck the ceasefire in place since January and fully reignite the 17-month-old war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said.
The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza. It also raised questions about the fate of the roughly two dozen Israeli hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive.
A senior Hamas official said Netanyahu’s decision to resume the war amounts to a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages. Izzat Al-Risheq accused Netanyahu of launching the strikes to try and save his far-right governing coalition and called on mediators to “reveal facts” on who broke the truce.
The strikes came as Netanayahu comes under mounting domestic pressure, with mass protests planned over his handling of the hostage crisis and his decision to fire the head of Israel’s internal security agency. His latest testimony in a long-running corruption trial was canceled after the strikes.
Wounded stream into Gaza hospitals
A strike on a home in the southern city of Rafah killed 17 members of one family, including at least 12 women and children, according to the European Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included five children, their parents, and another father and his three children, according to hospital records.
In the southern city of Khan Younis, Associated Press reporters saw explosions and plumes of smoke. Ambulances brought wounded people to Nasser Hospital, where patients lay on the floor, some screaming. A young girl cried as her bloody arm was bandaged.
Many Palestinians said they had expected a return to war when talks over the second phase of the ceasefire did not begin as scheduled in early February. Israel instead embraced an alternative proposal and cut off all shipments of food, fuel and other aid to the territory’s 2 million Palestinians to try to pressure Hamas to accept it.
“Nobody wants to fight,” Palestinian resident Nidal Alzaanin told the AP by phone from Gaza City. “Everyone is still suffering from the previous months,” he said.
At least 235 people were killed in the strikes overnight and into Tuesday, according to records from seven hospitals. The toll does not include bodies brought to other, smaller health centers, and rescuers were still searching for dead and wounded people.
US backs Israel and blames Hamas
The White House sought to blame Hamas for the renewed fighting. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the militant group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.”
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the unfolding operation, said Israel was striking Hamas’ military, leaders and infrastructure and planned to expand the operation beyond air attacks. The official accused Hamas of attempting to rebuild and plan new attacks. Hamas militants and security forces quickly returned to the streets in recent weeks after the ceasefire went into effect.
Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said the “gates of hell will open in Gaza” if the hostages aren’t released. “We will not stop fighting until all of our hostages are home and we have achieved all of the war goals,” he said.
Talks on a second phase of the ceasefire had stalled
The strikes came two months after a ceasefire was reached to pause the war. Over six weeks, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in a first phase of the ceasefire.
But since that ceasefire ended two weeks ago, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward with a second phase aimed at releasing the 59 remaining hostages, 35 of whom are believed to be dead, and ending the war altogether.
Hamas has demanded an end to the war and full withdrawal of Israeli troops in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages. Israel says it will not end the war until it destroys Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and frees all hostages — two goals that could be incompatible.
Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday said Hamas had “repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the US presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators.”
Taher Nunu, a Hamas official, criticized the Israeli attacks. “The international community faces a moral test: either it allows the return of the crimes committed by the occupation army or it enforces a commitment to ending the aggression and war against innocent people in Gaza,” he said.
Gaza already in a humanitarian crisis
The war erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Most have been released in ceasefires or other deals, with Israeli forces rescuing only eight and recovering dozens of bodies.
Israel responded with a military offensive that killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced an estimated 90 percent of Gaza’s population. The territory’s Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and militants, but says over half of the dead have been women and children.
The ceasefire had brought some relief to Gaza and allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to resume to what remained of their homes.
A renewed Israeli ground offensive could also be especially deadly now that so many Palestinian civilians have returned home. Before the ceasefire, civilians were largely concentrated in tent camps meant to provide relative safety from the fighting.
Netanyahu faces mounting criticism
The return to fighting could also worsen deep internal fissures inside Israel over the fate of the remaining hostages.
The released hostages, some of whom were emaciated, have repeatedly implored the government to press ahead with the ceasefire to return all remaining captives. Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken part in mass demonstrations calling for a ceasefire and return of all hostages.
Mass demonstrations are planned later Tuesday and Wednesday following Netanyahu’s announcement this week that he wants to fire the head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency. Critics have lambasted the move as an attempt by Netanyahu to divert blame for his government’s failures in the Oct. 7 attack and handling of the war.
Since the ceasefire in Gaza began in mid-January, Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians who the military says approached its troops or entered unauthorized areas.
Still, the deal has tenuously held without an outbreak of wide violence. Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate the next steps in the ceasefire.
Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas instead wants to follow the ceasefire deal reached by the two sides, which calls for negotiations to begin on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, in which the remaining hostages would be released and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza.
Israel hits Gaza with new airstrikes that kill at least 200 after truce talks stall
- Netanyahu says he ordered strikes because of lack of progress in talks to extend ceasefire
- Hamas accuses Netanyahu of upending ceasefire, exposing hostages to "an unknown fate”
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, saying it was striking dozens of Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January. Palestinian officials reported at least 200 deaths.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said.
The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza. It also raised questions about the fate of the roughly two dozen Israeli hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive.
Hamas accused Netanyahu of upending the ceasefire agreement and exposing the hostages “to an unknown fate.” In a statement, it called on mediators to hold Israel “fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement.”
In the southern city of Khan Younis, Associated Press reporters saw explosions and plumes of smoke. Ambulances brought wounded people to Nasser Hospital, where patients lay on the floor, some screaming. A young boy sat with a bandage around his head as a health worker checked for more injuries, a young girl cried as her bloody arm was bandaged.
Many Palestinians said they had expected a return to war when talks over the second phase of the ceasefire did not begin as scheduled in early February. Israel instead embraced an alternative proposal and cut off all shipments of food, fuel and other aid to the territory’s 2 million Palestinians to try to pressure Hamas to accept it.
“Nobody wants to fight,” Palestinian resident Nidal Alzaanin said by phone from Gaza City. “Everyone is still suffering from the previous months,” he said.
US backs Israel and blames Hamas
The White House sought to blame Hamas for the renewed fighting. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the militant group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.”
US envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been leading mediation efforts along with Egypt and Qatar, had earlier warned that Hamas must release living hostages immediately “or pay a severe price.”
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the unfolding operation, said Israel was striking Hamas’ military, leaders and infrastructure and planned to expand the operation beyond air attacks. The official accused Hamas of attempting to rebuild and plan new attacks. Hamas militants and security forces quickly returned to the streets in recent weeks after the ceasefire went into effect.
Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said the “gates of hell will open in Gaza” if the hostages aren’t released. “We will not stop fighting until all of our hostages are home and we have achieved all of the war goals,” he said.
Explosions could be heard throughout Gaza. Khalil Degran, a spokesman for the Health Ministry based at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, said at least 200 people had been killed. The territory’s civil defense agency said its crews were having a difficult time carrying out rescue efforts because various areas were being targeted simultaneously.
Talks on a second phase of the ceasefire had stalled
The strikes came two months after a ceasefire was reached to pause the war. Over six weeks, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in a first phase of the ceasefire.
But since that ceasefire ended two weeks ago, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward with a second phase aimed at releasing the 59 remaining hostages, 35 of whom are believed to be dead, and ending the war altogether.
Hamas has demanded an end to the war and full withdrawal of Israeli troops in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages. Israel says it will not end the war until it destroys Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and frees all hostages.
Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to resume the war.
“This comes after Hamas repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the US presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators,” Netanyahu’s office said early Tuesday.
Taher Nunu, a Hamas official, criticized the Israeli attacks. “The international community faces a moral test: either it allows the return of the crimes committed by the occupation army or it enforces a commitment to ending the aggression and war against innocent people in Gaza,” he said.
Gaza already in a humanitarian crisis
The war erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Most have been released in ceasefires or other deals, with Israeli forces rescuing only eight and recovering dozens of bodies.
Israel responded with a military offensive that killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced an estimated 90 percent of Gaza’s population. The territory’s Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and militants, but says over half of the dead have been women and children.
The ceasefire had brought some relief to Gaza and allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to resume to what remained of their homes.
A renewed Israeli ground offensive could also be especially deadly now that so many Palestinian civilians have returned home. Before the ceasefire, civilians were largely concentrated in tent camps meant to provide relative safety from the fighting.
The return to fighting could also worsen deep internal fissures inside Israel over the fate of the remaining hostages. Many of the hostages released by Hamas returned emaciated and malnourished, putting heavy pressure on the government to extend the ceasefire.
The released hostages have repeatedly implored the government to press ahead with the ceasefire to return all remaining hostages, and tens of thousands of Israelis have taken part in mass demonstrations calling for a ceasefire and return of all hostages.
North Korea condemns US strikes against Yemen, KCNA says
- The large-scale US strikes were launched by President Donald Trump last week targeting Iran-aligned Houthis
- Houthi-run health ministry said the strikes killed at least 53 people including women and children
SEOUL: North Korea condemned recent US strikes on Yemen as an act violating international law and a country’s sovereignty and said such a move could never be justified in any way, the North’s state media quoted on Tuesday its ambassador to Yemen as saying.
The large-scale US strikes were launched by President Donald Trump last week targeting Iran-aligned Houthis over the group’s attacks on Red Sea shipping. The Houthi-run health ministry said the strikes killed at least 53 people including women and children.
The North Korean ambassador, Ma Dong Hui, who the KCNA state news agency said was also Pyongyang’s envoy to Egypt, said Washington “indiscriminately” targeted civilians and property by mobilizing air and navy forces including an aircraft carrier.
“The military attack by the United States is a violent violation of the UN Charter and international law, and is a blatant infringement on the territorial sovereignty of another country that cannot be justified by any means,” Ma said.
“I express grave concern about the illegal and reckless military actions by the United States, which is obsessed with realizing geopolitical ambitions ... and I strongly condemn and reject them.”
The US Defense Department said the strikes hit more than 30 sites and involved fighter jets launched from a carrier in the Red Sea.
Houthis claim new attack on American warships, report new US strikes
- The Houthis said on Telegram they had targeted the USS Harry S. Truman carrier group with missiles and drones
- Houthi media said fresh US strikes hit Yemen on Monday after tens of thousands demonstrated
SANAA: Iran-backed Houthis on Tuesday claimed their third attack on American warships in 48 hours, despite US strikes targeting the group in Yemen that have sparked mass protests.
The Houthis said on Telegram they had targeted the USS Harry S. Truman carrier group with missiles and drones, making the attack the “third in the past 48 hours” in the northern Red Sea.
A US defense official said the Houthis “continue to communicate lies and disinformation,” adding the Iran-backed group is “well known for false claims minimizing the results of our attacks while exaggerating the successes of theirs.”
A US Air Force official earlier said it was “hard to confirm” the attacks claimed by the Houthis as they were missing their targets “by over 100 miles.”
Houthi media said fresh US strikes hit Yemen on Monday after tens of thousands demonstrated in the capital Sanaa.
There were also large crowds in Saada, the birthplace of the Houthi movement, and demonstrations in Dhamar, Hodeida and Amran, footage from the rebels’ Al-Masirah TV station showed.
“Yemen will never back down — we defy the Americans, we defy the Zionists,” said a man shouting slogans to the Sanaa crowd.
The protests came after Washington launched a fresh campaign of air strikes on Yemen beginning Saturday, aiming to pressure the Houthis into ending their attacks on Red Sea shipping.
The Houthis have targeted ships traveling the major trade route since the start of the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.
The US strikes killed 53 people and wounded 98 on Saturday, according to the health ministry.
Al-Masirah channel and Saba press agency reported new US strikes on Monday night in the Hodeida and Al-Salif regions, while the Houthi Ansarollah website said strikes hit Sanaa early Tuesday.
Washington has vowed to keep hitting Yemen until the Houthis stop attacking shipping, with US President Donald Trump warning he will hold Iran accountable for any further attacks carried out by the Tehran-sponsored group.
“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible,” Trump posted on social media.
Iran responded by calling his statement “belligerent.”
At the rally in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, giant flags punctuated a sea of demonstrators at Al-Sabeen Square, which has hosted large-scale demonstrations every week throughout the Gaza war.
Just two days ago, the Houthi-controlled capital was hit by heavy strikes, including in northern districts frequented by the leadership.
They were the first US strikes since Trump returned to office in January, and came despite a pause in the Houthis’ attacks coinciding with a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
The Pentagon said it had struck 30 targets in Yemen so far and vowed to use “overwhelming lethal force” to “restore freedom of navigation” in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz told ABC News that Saturday’s strikes “targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out.” The Houthis have not responded to Waltz’s claim.
The United Nations urged both sides to “cease all military activity,” while expressing concern over Houthi threats to resume the Red Sea attacks.
Before this weekend’s targeting of the US carrier group, the Houthis had not claimed any attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since January 19, when the ceasefire in Gaza began.
However, the group had threatened to resume its campaign over Israel’s blocking of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.
It said it would “move to additional escalatory options” if the “American aggression” continued.
Trump, meanwhile, has warned the Yemeni group that “hell will rain down upon you” if it did not stop its attacks.
He has also broadened the warning to include Iran, saying it would “suffer the consequences” for shots fired by the Houthis.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier condemned the US strikes and said Washington had “no authority” to dictate Tehran’s foreign policy.
A database set up by ACLED, a non-profit monitor, showed more than 130 Houthi attacks against warships, commercial vessels, and Israeli and other targets since October 19, 2023.
While the Red Sea trade route normally carries around 12 percent of world shipping traffic, Houthi attacks have forced many companies into costly detours around southern Africa.
The United States had already launched several rounds of strikes on Houthi targets under former president Joe Biden.
Israel has also struck Yemen, most recently in December, after Houthi missile fire toward Israeli territory.
The rebels control large swathes of Yemen, including most of its population centers, after ousting the internationally recognized government from Sanaa.
They have been at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing the government since 2015, a conflict that has triggered a major humanitarian crisis.
Fighting has largely been on hold since a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022, but the peace process has stalled following the Houthi attacks over Gaza.
