Ankara, March 20: The Turkish military has bombed areas in northern Iraq as part of Ankara’s campaign against militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) hiding in the rugged mountains.
Turkish warplanes pounded Nirwa Rikan, east of al-Imadiya town, on Saturday, but it was not clear whether the attack left casualties, the Aswat al-Iraq news agency quoted eyewitnesses as saying.
The PKK has headquarters in the remote area, which has no civilian residents.
On Friday, clashes between Turkish troops and PKK forces in southeastern Turkey left at least four Kurdish militants dead.
Two guards were also injured in a rural area between Bingol and Tunceli provinces in clashes with PKK forces, which prompted the Turkish army to launch an operation against the militants in the mountainous region.
On Wednesday, Turkish troops also killed three Kurdish militants in a clash in southeastern Turkey.
PKK militants launch their attacks from Iraq’s Qandil Mountains in the areas controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government. Israeli agents and Israeli firms reportedly operate in the mountain range.
The Turkish military has been conducting airstrikes and artillery attacks on PKK positions in northern Iraq since it started a series of air raids on the militants’ bases in December 2007 and a weeklong ground operation in February 2008.
Founded in 1974, the Kurdistan Workers Party, which is listed as a terrorist organization by most of the international community, took up arms against the central government in Ankara in 1984.
Over 40,000 people have died as a result of the conflict.
——–Agencies