US establishes five terror bases in Iraq’s Sinjar for PKK as Turkish troops advance

The United States, which is seemingly in efforts to eradicate terror elements by putting multi-million dollar bounties on the heads of three senior Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists, set five new military bases in northern Iraq's Sinjar district, for the terror group to ensure their presence in the region.

Under the Rewards for Justice program, people who give information on the identification or location of PKK terrorists Murat Karayilan, Cemil Bayik, and Duran Kalkan are eligible for rewards of $3-5 million.

Following The Turkish Armed Forces’ (TAF) recent blow to the PKK in Iraq’s Qandil, the terrorists started to flee to Sinjar, a region located on the Turkish-Iraqi border.

The PKK’s links to Turkey at the “Yüksekova-Şemdinli-Çukurca” line, also known as the Zagros area, have been completely severed.

The Turkish army has crossed almost 40 kilometers into northern Iraq and destroyed 48 terror camps belonging to the PKK terrorists in the latest series of airstrikes carried out in the Zap, Mt. Qandil, and Avashin-Basyan regions.

Turkey has also speeded up its air operations in Mt. Qandil where only few PKK terrorists remain.

Stressing Turkey’s successful cross-border operations, former Turkish Colonel Coşkun Başbuğ said, “There are about 500 villages in the region. The Turkish forces who rooted out terror nests without harming any civilians have been welcomed joyfully like in the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations.”

Northern Iraq’s Qandil Mountains have been a haven for PKK terrorists over the past few decades. Considered as the main base of the PKK, which control checkpoints and entrances to the mountains, the structuring in the area is used for cover and concealment by terrorists.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU. Its three-decade terror campaign against Turkey has cost more than 40,000 lives, including women and children.