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Turkish warplanes strike PKK targets in SE Turkey

Xinhua, April 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Turkish warplanes struck targets of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey on Thursday, said a Turkish military statement.

Four F-16 fighter jets were involved in the military operation, hitting the PKK targets in Daglica region in Hakkari province in southeastern Turkey on Thursday morning, said the statement issued by the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces.

Another six F-16 fighter jets bombed the PKK targets in Uludere town of Sirnak province in southeastern Turkey before Thursday noon, according to the statement.

All 10 warplanes safely returned to the bases in Turkey after hitting the PKK targets in southeastern Turkey, said the statement.

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