Turkish jets destroy 18 PKK targets in northern Iraq

By Ozcan Yildirim

ANKARA

Turkish jets have destroyed at least 18 PKK terror group targets in northern Iraq, the military said on Sunday.

The airstrikes were carried out on Saturday and Sunday in the Hakurk, Zap, Metina, Gara, and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement.

The statement said that the terror group members were plotting an attack on the Turkish military and their bases in the region.

Airstrikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq, where the terror group has its main base in the Mt. Qandil region, near the Iranian border, have been carried out regularly since July 2015, when the PKK resumed its armed terror campaign.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey as well as the U.S. and the EU. In its terror campaign against Turkey, which has lasted for more than three decades, over 40,000 people have been killed, including women and children.

The airstrikes take place amid the Turkish-led Operation Olive Branch across the Turkish border into northwestern Syria, targeting the threat of the Syrian branch of the PKK, the terrorist PYD/PKK.