Turkish military base in northern Iraq comes under attack

Presence of Turkish troops at the Zlikan base has been cause of tensions between Iraq and Turkey

Turkish soldiers take part in operations in the Metina and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq. Getty

A military base that hosts Turkish troops in the Iraqi district of Bashiqa, north-east of Mosul, has been attacked.

Several rockets and drones were used to hit the Zlikan base in the northern Nineveh province, the Kurdish Rudaw network reported, quoting a security source. No casualties have been reported yet.

The presence of Turkish troops at the base has caused tensions between Iraq and Turkey, which justifies its presence in the region on its fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is outlawed by Ankara.

Turkey has maintained several outposts in northern Iraq since 2016 and in April Ankara began one of its largest military operations in northern Iraq against the PKK, Operation Claw-Lock.

In addition to the PKK, several Iran-backed groups in Iraq strongly oppose the presence of Turkish troops and have launched rocket and drone attacks.

A group of PKK soldiers walk near their base camp high in the mountains of northern Iraq on June 1, 2004. Reuters

Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan greets women soldiers at the Mahsun Korkmaz Academy military training camp in Lebanon on June, 18, 1988. Getty Images

Peshmerga and Turkish soldiers prepare to storm a hill on October 23, 1992, near a stronghold held by the PKK in Hakurk Valley. AFP

Abdullah Ocalan was abducted in Nairobi in 1999 by the Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT), with assistance from the US, and taken to Turkey. Reuters

Turkish riot police detain a Kurdish protester following a demonstration in central Istanbul on April 2, 2006. Reuters

A man holds a sign demanding freedom for imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan at a protest of mostly Kurdish demonstrators on November 4, 2007, in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

Turkish army commandos on patrol near the Iraq border on October 27, 2007, in the Uludere district of Sirnak province, south-eastern Turkey. Getty Images

A Turkish helicopter flies over the Cudi Mountains during an attack on an outlawed PKK camp October 30, 2007, in Sirnak province, near the Iraq border. AFP

A ruined bridge lies in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region during fighting between Turkish forces and PKK fighters on February 24, 2008. AFP

Turkish soldiers stand guard as smokes rises from a bus that was attacked by members of the PKK on September 18, 2012, in Bingol. AFP

A member of the PKK inspects a crater reportedly caused by an air strike by Turkish warplanes on July 29, 2015, in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq. AFP

Locals assess the damage following clashes between Turkish forces and PKK militants in the Kurdish-majority city of Cizre, in south-eastern Turkey, on September 12, 2015. AFP

People return to their homes in Dargecit after a curfew imposed by the Turkish government was lifted on December 30, 2015, in Mardin province. AFP

Children look out from a window of a bullet-scarred house in the Kurdish town of Silopi in south-eastern Turkey, near the border with Iraq, on January 19, 2016. AFP

A member of the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H), a division of the PKK, stands guard in the south-eastern Turkish city of Nusaybin on February 25, 2016. Getty Images

Those attacks have followed public threats by groups in Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella group of militias ostensibly under federal government control, but that are largely tied to Iran.

The Iraqi government has condemned PMF attacks on Turkish forces in northern areas, but has limited control on PMF units. An Iraqi citizen was killed in an attack on May 22.

The latest strike comes a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the military would soon “clear” what he called terrorists from the northern Syrian towns of Manbij and Tel Rifaat.

It was a reference to Syria’s main Kurdish militia, known as the People’s Protection Units, or YPG.

Mr Erdogan has been speaking about a new incursion for weeks without saying when such an offensive would start.

Turkey has launched four major operations in northern Syria since 2016, mainly against the YPG. Ankara considers the PKK and YPG as one and the same.