Turkey mounts airstrikes on PKK in country’s south, Iraq

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish warplanes struck Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant targets in northern Iraq and southeast Turkey on Friday, November 20 night, the latest raids in a military campaign against the rebel group, Reuters reports.

The Turkish army said it hit 23 PKK targets, including shelters and supply points, in Zap, Avasin-Baysan, Hakurk and Qandil areas in northern Iraq with 22 fighter jets.

The air strikes were carried out between the hours of 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., the army said.

It also said it hit PKK locations in Sirnak province in Turkey's southeast, including shelters and gun points.

The PKK's 31-year-old conflict with the state erupted anew in July, with Turkey launching air strikes on militant camps in response to attacks on its security forces, ending a March 2013 ceasefire. Hundreds have been killed in the latest fighting.

Designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union, the PKK launched a separatist insurgency in 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed. The state launched peace talks with its jailed leader in 2012.