Ankara, July 02: Turkish fighter jets have launched airstrikes on targets in northern Iraq, which is seen as the hotbed for Kurdish militants’ activity, Turkish military says.
The warplanes bombed Kurdish separatist targets in the Qandil Mountains and the Hakurk region of northern Iraq, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement on Friday.
“It was observed that targets were successfully hit in the airstrike,” the statement said.
The warplanes returned to Turkey safely and no casualties have been reported yet, it said.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants launch their attacks from the Qandil Mountains in the areas under the control of Iraqi Kurdistan’s President Massoud Barzani. The Qandil Mountains range is also where Israel and Israeli firms operate.
The new airstrike on the PKK hideouts comes as the Kurdish militants have stepped up their attacks, killing over 40 soldiers over past few months.
The Turkish military says around 4,000 militants are based just across the border in Iraq and about 2,500 others operate inside Turkey.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.
——–Agencies