February 10 – 15, 2021
Anti-PKK Operation Tests U.S.-Turkey Ties
An officer holds an image of Lieutenant Burak Coskun during funeral prayers for three Turkish military personnel killed in action. Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images
A Turkish military mission to rescue thirteen of its nationals captured by PKK forces fails, with all of the captives found dead. Ankara says they were executed by the PKK, but the guerrilla group blames a Turkish bombing campaign. A U.S. State Department statement on the incident does not assign blame to the PKK, prompting backlash in Turkey. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later walks back the assertion of doubt in the initial statement. Still, the rift between Washington and Ankara deepens.
February 16, 2021
Rockets Strike U.S. Base in Erbil
A worker sweeps shattered glass outside a damaged shop following a rocket attack in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. Safin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images
Rockets launched from within Iraqi Kurdistan strike the regional capital, Erbil, targeting an air base that hosts forces of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State. The attack injures at least nine people, including an American soldier, and kills a Filipino civilian contractor. A group calling itself Saraya Awliya al-Dam claims the attack and says it will continue to target U.S. forces, particularly those in Iraqi Kurdistan. Iraqi officials suspect the group is connected to Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iran-backed paramilitary collective. Rocket attacks by Iranian proxies are rare in KRG territory; the last such attack occurred in September 2020.
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