Turkey’s F-16 And F-4 2020 Fighter Jets Destroyed Several PKK Targets In Northern Iraq

Turkish warplanes struck a dozen targets of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, the military said Thursday. Turkey, which considers PKK as a terrorist organization, has carried out hundreds of raids on the group's bases on both sides of the Iraq-Turkey border.

“Twelve military aircraft, including F-16 and F-4 2020 jet fighters, launched air raids against PKK bases in Hakurk, Haftanin, Basyan and Avashin regions in northern Iraq,” the General Staff reportedly said. “The targets, including shelters, bunkers and ammunition depots, were destroyed successfully during strikes launched between 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.”

On Tuesday, warplanes hit shelters, caves and ammunition depots used by the Kurdish militants in northern Iraq and rural areas near the southeastern Turkish town of Semdinli, Reuters reported. The army also reportedly said that 10 PKK fighters were killed by security forces during clashes in the southeastern towns of Nusaybin, near the Syrian border, and Sirnak, near the Iraqi border.

The military has reportedly said that more than a thousand insurgents have been killed in the largely Kurdish southeast since a less than 3-year-old PKK ceasefire collapsed in July.

Since clashes with PKK began, more than 300 members of the security forces have died, President Tayyip Erdogan has reportedly said, while the pro-Kurdish opposition says hundreds of civilians have also been killed.

After Turkish warplanes struck PKK targets, three Turkish gendarmerie were killed in a car bomb attack by the PKK on their station in Turkey's southeast late Thursday, security sources said, according to Reuters. The attack took place at a gendarmerie station located between Diyarbakir and Bingol provinces, sources reportedly said, adding that clashes continued after the attack.