Turkey strikes in Syria, Iraq a week after Istanbul bombing
Istanbul (AP): Turkey launched airstrikes over northern regions of Syria and Iraq, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Sunday, targeting Kurdish groups that Ankara holds responsible for last week's bomb attack in Istanbul.
Warplanes attacked bases of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and the Syrian People's Protection Units, or YPG, the ministry said in a statement, which was accompanied by images of F-16 jets taking off and footage of a strike from an aerial drone.
There was no immediate comment from either group.
The ministry cited Turkey's right to self defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter in launching an operation it called Claw-Sword late Saturday night. It said it was targeting areas "used as a base by terrorists in their attacks on our country."
Turkey said it was seeking to prevent attacks, secure its southern border and "destroy terrorism at its source."
The airstrikes came after a bomb rocked a bustling avenue in the heart of Istanbul on November 13, killing six people and wounding over 80 others.
Turkish authorities blamed the attack on the PKK and its Syrian affiliate the YPG. The Kurdish militant groups have, however, have denied involvement.
Ankara and Washington both consider the PKK a terror group, but disagree on the status of the YPG. Under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the YPG has been allied with the US in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria.
The PKK has fought an armed insurgency in Turkey since 1984. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since then.
Following the strikes, the Defence Ministry posted a photo of an F-16 fighter plane with the phrase, "Payback time! The scoundrels are being held to account for their treacherous attacks."
The DHA news agency reported that F-16s took off from airfields in Malatya and Diyarbakir in southern Turkey while drones were launched from Batman.
Defense Minister Hulusi Akar oversaw the airstrikes from an operations centre and congratulated pilots and ground staff.
"Our aim is to ensure the security of our 85 million citizens and our borders and to retaliate for any treacherous attack on our country," he said, according to a ministry statement.
Akar added: "Shelters, bunkers, caves, tunnels and warehouses belonging to terrorists were destroyed with great success. ... The so-called headquarters of the terrorist organization were also hit and destroyed with direct hits."
The airstrikes targeted Kobani, a strategic Kurdish-majority Syrian town near the Turkish border that Ankara had previously attempted to overtake in its plans to establish a "safe zone" along northern Syria.
Syrian Democratic Forces spokesperson Farhad Shami in a tweet added that two villages heavily populated with displaced people were under Turkish bombardment. He said the strikes had resulted in "deaths and injuries."
Local media reported that the northern Iraqi city of Sinjar was also targeted. Syrian opposition media reported that the Turkish airstrikes targeted Kurdish-led SDF positions.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, reported that the strikes had also hit Syrian army positions and that at least 12 had been killed, including SDF and Syrian soldiers.
The observatory said about 25 airstrikes were carried out by Turkish warplanes on sites in the countryside of Aleppo, Raqqa and Hasakah.
In neighboring Iraq, the US Consulate General in Erbil said it is monitoring "credible open-source reports" of potential Turkish military action in northern Syria and northern Iraq in the coming days.
The Kurdish-led authority in northeast Syria said on Saturday that if Turkey attacks, then fighters in the area would have "the right to resist and defend our areas in a major way that will take the region into a long war."
Turkey has launched three major cross-border operations into Syria since 2016 and already controls some territories in the north. Earlier this year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened another operation in northern Syria.
Turkish forces launched a fresh ground and air operation, dubbed Claw-Lock, against the PKK in northern Iraq in April. (AP)
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Messi event chaos: Court extends police custody of chief organiser till Jan 9
Kolkata (PTI): A court in West Bengal on Sunday extended till January 9 the police custody of Satadru Dutta, the chief organiser of Argentine footballer Lionel Messi's event that dissolved into disorder earlier this month.
After the completion of his initial police custody, Dutta was produced before the Bidhannagar Sub-Divisional Court, where public prosecutors levelled multiple charges against him.
Dutta, who was arrested on December 13 over alleged mismanagement in the Salt Lake stadium event on that day, was also accused of entering into contracts with food and beverage suppliers without prior government approval and being involved in alleged corruption amounting to Rs 23 crore.
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The prosecution emphasised that Dutta wields significant influence, and for this reason, he should not be granted bail.
"The investigation requires further probe into the financial transactions and pre-planned arrangements for the event. His bail plea was rejected, and he (Dutta) was sent to police custody till January 9," a senior police officer told reporters outside the court.
Dutta was seen entering the courtroom holding a copy of the Gita.
His bail plea, moved by his counsel, was opposed by the prosecution, which described the incident as pre-planned and alleged that Dutta was the main person behind the alleged mismanagement.
The police informed the court that a contract for supplying food and beverages at the stadium had been finalised even before discussions were held with the administration for arrangements during Messi's programme.
According to the police, the official food and beverage contract value stood at Rs 40 lakh while Dutta allegedly received Rs 60 lakh in cash.
It was also stated that tickets worth around Rs 19 crore were sold for the event, with over 34,000 tickets purchased.
The police told the court that Messi left the field within 20 minutes of the programme, alleging that this too was part of a pre-planned sequence.
The police also pointed out that while professional sports event management companies were engaged for Messi events in three other cities, no such company was appointed for the Kolkata programme, a decision that has now come under scrutiny.
What was supposed to be a marquee football spectacle turned into widespread violence and disorder at the stadium on December 13 after Messi’s brief and tightly ring-fenced appearance, his first at the venue since 2011, left large sections of the crowd frustrated.
Angry fans, many of whom had paid Rs 4,000 to Rs 12,000 — and in some cases up to Rs 20,000 in the black market — ran riot at the venue after failing to get even a glimpse of their favourite superstar from Argentina.
