Rocket attack targets Turkish Consulate in Iraq's Mosul: Reports

A rocket attack has reportedly targeted Turkey's Consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, as tensions simmer between Baghdad and Ankara over an alleged Turkish strike on a tourist resort in the Arab country's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region.

The Iranian Fars news agency cited unidentified sources as saying that the missile attack on the Turkish Consulate in Mosul had taken place early on Wednesday.

Separately, the Canadian-based GardaWorld Crisis24, citing unknown Iraqi sources, reported that two missiles had landed in the vicinity of the Turkish Consulate. According to the sources, no casualties were caused by the attack, but a number of vehicles belonging to Turkish contractors and translators were damaged.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the reported attack. And Turkey is yet to confirm the incident.

Increased security and localized transport disruptions were expected in the area as authorities investigated and responded to the incident, according to the sources cited by Crisis24.

Meanwhile, a source from Mosul Police, speaking on the condition of anonymity, has told Xinhua news agency that several houses were damaged when six mortar rounds landed near the Turkish Consulate.

The reported strike, if confirmed, would be the second of its kind in the past few days. On Sunday evening, a rocket attack targeted a military base housing Turkish troops in the district of Bashiqa near Mosul City.

A group dubbed Saraya Awliya al-Dam (Guardians of Blood Brigade) claimed responsibility for that attack in a video posted online. The group reportedly said it had used 122mm Grad rockets in the attack, which it said had come in response to the Turkish attack. It also warned that it would take the battle to Turkish territory.

On July 20, an attack attributed to Turkey targeted the Iraqi village of Parakh in Dohuk Province, killing at least nine tourists, including children and women, and wounding more than 20 others. Iraqi authorities blamed Turkey, which did not specifically deny having conducted an attack but said no civilians had been targeted. The Turkish Foreign Ministry blamed the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist group for spreading anti-Turkish propaganda in the incident.

Militants of the PKK — designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union — regularly clash with Turkish forces in the Kurdish-dominated southeast of Turkey attached to northern Iraq.

ME