Turkish soldiers injured in second attack at Bashiqa camp in Iraq

Sevil Erkuş - ANKARA

DHA Photo

Five Turkish soldiers sustained injuries on Dec. 27 in the second attack this month on Bashiqa training camp in northern Iraq, Turkish sources have said.

The first attack at the Sunni military camp in the Bashiqa region of Iraq’s Mosul province occurred on Dec. 16, when Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants fired Katyusha ÇNRA projectiles at the camp. 

ISIL is the suspect of this fresh attack, during which one local Iraqi citizen was reportedly killed.

On Dec. 16, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) said in a statement its soldiers returned fire and four were injured when Katyusha rockets landed in their camp north of the ISIL stronghold of Mosul. 

Turkey deployed around 150 troops to the Bashiqa area earlier this month with the stated aim of training an Iraqi militia to fight ISIL. 

The Turkish soldiers’ presence in Iraq recently turned into a row between the two neighboring countries. 

The additional deployment of Turkish troops to the Bashiqa camp kicked off an angry exchange between the two capitals. 

Turkey said on Dec. 14 that some of its troops had begun leaving as part of reorganization, but Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s spokesman said it was not enough.