Iraqi forces cannot counter Turkey’s attacks, foreign and defense ministers say

The arsenal of the Iraqi military forces cannot cope with Ankara’s aggressions, Iraq’s ministers of foreign affairs and defense told the legislative assembly in an extraordinary session on Saturday to discuss the Turkish bombing of a resort in Duhok’s Zakho earlier this week.

Lawmaker Ebtisam al-Hilali told Shafaq News Agency that the two ministers confirmed that Turkey is responsible for the attack that killed nine and injured nearly thirty Iraqis.

Al-Hilali said that the ministers of defense and foreign affairs, in addition to the army’s Chief-of-Staff, told the parliament that “Iraq does not have enough fighter jets and military supplies for a military response against Turkey.

Turkey has more than ten bases housing more than one thousand troops in the Kurdistan region and northern Iraq, the government officeholders said.

“The parliament is deliberating the statements of the ministers and military commanders. An official decision will be made by the end of the session,” al-Hilali said.