- Title: Turkey deploys more troops on its border with Iraq
- Date: 7th November 2016
- Summary: CIZRE, TURKEY (NOVEMBER 7, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CONVOY CARRYING MILITARY PERSONNEL ON ROAD (NIGHT SHOTS) SILOPI, TURKEY (NOVEMBER 7, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ARMOURED TRUCKS ARRIVING TO SILOPI, DRIVING PAST CITY SIGN
- Embargoed: 22nd November 2016 14:08
- Keywords: Turkey Iraq border military Islamic State tanks troops
- Location: CIZRE, TURKEY
- City: CIZRE, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA00157G4YMF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Turkish armed forces dispatched more military personnel to Silopi in Sirnak province near Iraqi border early on Monday (November 7), few days after deploying tanks and other armoured vehicles in the area.
The initial deployment on November 1 coincided with an Iraqi operation to drive Islamic State from Mosul and after Iraqi Shi'ite militias launched a related offensive to push the jihadists out of the town of Tal Afar about 55 km (35 miles) further west.
The Shi'ite militias, part of the Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga coalition, launched the Tal Afar offensive on Saturday (October 29). Their goal is to cut off any option of retreat by Islamic State insurgents into neighbouring Syria or any reinforcement for their defence of Mosul.
Tal Afar, some 170 km (106 miles) from Silopi is home to a sizeable ethnic Turkmen population with historic and cultural ties to Turkey.
Shi'ite militias' deployment in the area prompted a warning from President Tayyip Erdogan, who said Ankara aims to reinforce its troops on the frontier and threatened a "different response" for the militias if they "unleash terror" in Tal Afar.
Sirnak province, where Silopi is located, is also one of the main areas of conflict between the Turkish military and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, who have bases in northern Iraq. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None