Briefs | Netherlands – Possible BUK missile parts found at MH17 site

Dutch prosecutors have said for the first time that they have found possible parts of a BUK missile system at the site in eastern Ukraine where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was brought down last year, killing all 298 people on board. Prosecutors said in a statement yesterday the parts “are of particular interest to the criminal investigation as they can possibly provide more information about who was involved in the crash of MH17.” Prosecutors have previously said they are treating a missile strike as the most likely scenario, but yesterday’s announcement was the first time they have described possible physical evidence of a missile. However, they cautioned that the conclusion cannot yet be drawn “that there is a causal connection between the discovered parts and the crash of flight MH17.”

Turkey – Warplanes strike PKK targets in southeast

Turkish warplanes struck Kurdish rebel positions overnight in southeast Turkey, the military said yesterday, a day after heavy violence in the country left at least nine dead. In a statement, the Turkish military said jets hit 17 targets of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, around the Buzul mountain and the Ikiyaka region in Hakkari province, which borders Iran and Iraq. In further violence yesterday, Kurdish rebels attacked an infantry brigade command post in nearby Sirnak province, seriously wounding a soldier who later died in a hospital. On Monday, nine people, including five police officers, were killed in separate attacks in Istanbul and in the southeastern Sirnak province. The attacks were blamed on the PKK. Turkish warplanes have raided PKK targets in Iraq and in southeast Turkey in tandem with airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria since late July. The main focus of the raids however, has been the PKK. The PKK has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy in southeast Turkey. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984.