Turkish warplanes strike PKK targets in northern Iraq

Turkish warplanes struck targets of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq on Tuesday, private Dogan news agency reported.

A total of 22 Turkish warplanes including F-16 and F-4 2020 fighter jets were involved in the operation, hitting the PKK targets in Gara region in northern Iraq at noon, and destroying ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters, said the report.

The air raids were part of an escalated campaign against PKK posts in Iraq following a suicide car bombing on March 13 that killed 37 people in the capital city of Ankara.

The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a Kurdish militant group linked to the PKK, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Feb. 17, a suicide car bomb targeted military shuttles in Ankara, killing at least 29 people and injuring 81 others. TAK also claimed responsibility for that attack.

Since a two-year cease-fire between the government and the PKK disintegrated last July, Turkish security forces have launched a major campaign against the PKK in southeast Turkey, leaving over 260 members of Turkey's security forces and thousands of PKK members dead.

The PKK, waging its separatist war against Turkey since 1984, is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Endit