Turkey launched a wave of air-strikes on Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq, hours after a suicide blast hit the Interior Ministry complex in Ankara Oct. 1. The Turkish military said 20 targets were destroyed and several fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK [7]) were "neutralized." The People Defense Forces (HPG [8]), armed wing of the PKK, released a statement via the rebel movement's Firat News Agency (ANF [12]) saying that a "sacrificial action" against the Interior Ministry was carried out by a unit from their Immortal Brigade. The two assailants, both women, were killed in the attack—one as she detonated her payload while storming the entrance to the ministry compound, the other shot by police. Two police officers were also wounded. The HPG statement said the attack was a "warning" to the Turkish government over its ongoing military operations against Kurdish militants both in Syria [9] and in Iraq [10]. (BBC News [13], Arab News [14], EKurd [15], Al-Monitor [16], EuroNews [17])
