PKK ambushes Turkish patrol at extremely close range

Turkey is ramping up their anti-PKK and YPG operations in the Kurdistan region. Presently they are pursuing the PKK headquarters located in Qandil, a mountainous region in northern Iraq. According to reports, the Turkish military has setup 11 combat outposts on the northern Iraq/Turkish border and is using the forward operations points to launch patrols into the Kurdistan region.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told state sponsored press that,

We are shelling Mt. Qandil through air operations at times. This time PKK terrorists are crossing into Iran when they are on the back foot. We cleared the area in northwestern Syria’s Afrin during Operation Olive Branch. We will do the same thing in Mt. Qandil area.”

He went on to claim that the military had already cleared 400 square kilometers of the Qandil region and that the area was no longer under PKK control.

The Turkish military launched Operation Olive Branch in January when President Reccep Tayip Erdogan declared that he would not allow a “terror corridor” to reside on his nations doorstep. With the use of Free Syrian Army (FSA) proxy militias, the Turkish forces quickly pushed into the city of Afrin and took it from the local People’s Protection Units (YPG) stationed there. Now Turkey is threatening Manbij and gunning for Qandil. A series of airstrikes have targeted the PKK in Iraqi-Kurdistan as well, the military is now occupying space that is 30 kilometers within Kurdistan’s border.

The following footage is of a team of PKK fighters ambushing a patrol of Turkish soldiers in the mountains, presumably near Qandil. What they lack in technique they make up for with speed, surprise, and violence of action. What they lack in training, they make up for in experience. The PKK have earned a reputation as skilled guerrilla fighters and from the footage it’s easy to see why. The first one is the CQB highlights and the second is the full version.

https://youtu.be/GmrK108JsKQ

https://youtu.be/iCGNDCHRNz8

Featured image courtesy of the PKK