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Two drones have reportedly hit the 8th Main Jet Command in Bağlar district of Turkey’s south-eastern city of Diyarbakır (Amed).
Two seperate air strikes on Tuesday night targeted the airbase, which has been the central command where Turkish fighter jets take off for military strikes against Kurdish fighters in the Zap, Metina and Avashin regions. Explosions that occured as a result of the attacks were heard throughout the city, MA reports.
Whilst no deaths or injuries have been reported, firefighting units and dozens of ambulances were sent to the airbase, where extraordinary security measures have been taken after the drone strikes.
Turkish minister of interior affairs Süleyman Soylu, who has been a much discussed figure lately after a Turkish mafia leader Sedat Peker has recently revealed his relations with the minister, was the first Turkish official to comment on the attack.
Soylu wrote on Twitter that the two drones, which “attempted” to attack the military base, were “neutralised” and “no damage was caused,” as a result.
Ceyhun Bozkurt, known as a pro-government journalist, shared his comment that in his opinion the attack was a “revenge” for Nurettin Sofi, a top Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) cadre and a member of the military council of the People’s Defence Forces (HPG), who Turkish military officials recently ‘announced his death’, which the HPG has flatly denied, according to MA.
MA also reported that after the explosions all the lights in the military base were turned off and the fighter jets, which normally take off from the base during certain hours of a day changed their flying schedules after the drone attacks.
There are also claims that the drone strikes caused a “large hole” on the landing strip at the airbase.
There is no statement from the HPG regarding the attack. The Kurdish fighters of the HPG had previously claimed numerous air strikes to a number of Turkish military bases before, including the 8th Main Jet Command.
Before, the HPG forces on December 12, 2016 hit a F-16 Turkish fighter jet, which was about to land at the 8th Main Jet Command military airbase, Turkish authorities issued statements that the jet had crashed for “unknown reasons”, but the HPG, which issued a statement two days after the crash, claimed the attack.
