The Turkish military has carried out air strikes against Kurdish militias in northern Syria and Iraq. The Defense Ministry in Ankara said 29 PKK positions had been destroyed. The targets were caves, bunkers and oil facilities.
In response to an attack on a Turkish military base in Iraq, the Turkish military has carried out air strikes against suspected Kurdish militias in northern Syria and Iraq. In the early morning, 29 positions, including caves, bunkers, shelters and oil facilities, of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were attacked and destroyed, the Defense Ministry in Ankara announced on Platform X.
Twenty fighters are said to have been “neutralized” in northern Iraq. As a rule, the government in Ankara means that people have been killed, injured or captured.
At least nine Turkish soldiers were previously killed in clashes with PKK fighters in northern Iraq. At least four soldiers were injured, the Defense Ministry said. The incident occurred when PKK fighters tried to break into a military base near the Turkish border. It was the second deadly clash between the Turkish military and the PKK in three weeks.
Raids in 32 cities
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said a total of 113 people with suspected links to the PKK were arrested in raids in 32 Turkish cities and provinces on Saturday night. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will convene an extraordinary meeting with the heads of the security and intelligence services, Erdogan’s office said.
The PKK has been fighting against the Turkish state since 1984 and is classified as a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies. The Turkish military has pushed the PKK back into neighboring Iraq and regularly carries out military operations on land and in the air against the PKK and its positions in northern Iraq. Tens of thousands of people have already been killed in the conflict.