A Kurdish militant group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for an attack on the headquarters of a defense company in Ankara that killed at least five people. The attack was carried out by two members of the PKK’s military wing in response to Turkish actions in Kurdish regions. The assailants, a man, and a woman, set off explosives and opened fire at the aerospace and defense company TUSAS, killing four employees before being killed in a subsequent battle with security teams. More than 20 people were injured in the attack. The Turkish government blamed the PKK for the attack and launched aerial strikes on suspected PKK locations in northern Iraq and northern Syria. The attack on TUSAS occurred amidst signs of a possible new attempt at dialogue to end the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish military. The PKK denied that the attack was related to the latest political agenda, stating that it was planned before. TUSAS was chosen as a target because weapons produced there had killed civilians in Kurdistan. Turkish warplanes intensified their airstrikes on PKK sites in northern Iraq, killing five Yazidis. In Syria, Turkish airstrikes killed civilians, and at least 12 people were killed and 25 others wounded. The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s, with the conflict causing tens of thousands of deaths. The group is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
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