Ambulances arrive as policemen secure the area during a terror attack at the Turkish Aerospace Industries in Ankara, Turkey, on October 23, 2024. Five people died and 22 were injured in the incident. Late Wednesday, Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish militant targets in northern Iran and Syria in retaliation. Photo by Necati Savas/EPA-EFE
Oct. 24 (UPI) — Turkish warplanes attacked nearly three dozen targets of a Kurdish militant organization in northern Iraq and Syria, Ankara’s ministry of defense said late Wednesday, as it responded to a terrorist attack that killed five people and injured many others earlier in the day.
The Ministry of Defense statement, carried by Turkish-state run Anadolu news agency, reported that 32 targets were destroyed and a number of militants were “neutralized” in the air operation.
“The Turkish Armed Forces, arising from our noble nation, will continue the fight against terrorism with determination and resolve for the survival and security of our country and nation until not a single terrorist remains, as in the past,” it said.
“During these operations, all necessary measures have been taken to ensure that innocent civilians, friendly elements, historical and cultural assets and the environment are not harmed.”
The strike followed an attack on Turkish Aerospace Industries in Ankara earlier Wednesday. An explosion and gunfire were heard at the facility.
The two assailants were killed, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced.
Authorities have identified the victims as a quality control officer at the aerospace company, a mechanical engineer, an employee, a security guard and a taxi driver.
Twenty-two others were also injured.
Yerlikaya said the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK, were mostly likely to blame.
The PKK is a Marxist-Leninist organization that formed in the late 1970s and seeks an independent Kurdistan. The militant group, which is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, has been in conflict with Turkey since at least 1984 when it began its armed insurgency against Ankara.
In October of last year, Turkish warplanes hit 20 PKK targets in northern Iraq after a suicide bomber drove up to the entrance of the Ministry of Interior in Ankara and detonated an explosive device.