Turkish air strikes 'kill 390 PKK', says security source
Anonymous source claims airstrikes have inflicted heavy damage on Kurdish rebels in recent operations
ANKARA
Turkish security sources are claiming to have killed a total of 390 militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in a series of recent air strikes against rebel targets in northern Iraq.
An anonymous security force source also told Anadolu Agency that 400 PKK insurgents were injured in the attacks.
Since a suicide bombing in Suruc, southern Turkey, killed 32 people on July 20, the country has witnessed a wave of bombings, shootings and arrests.
More than 20 security force personnel have been killed in attacks mostly attributed to the PKK and at least 1,300 people arrested in operations targeting various militant groups.
The PKK organization was damaged on August 1 during a Turkish air operation against its camps in Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq.
In another air operation in Bokriskan region of Iraq, the PKK’s ‘Sehit Dilan’ battalion's commander and four group leaders were killed, and 30 militants injured.
A strike against Zergele camp in the Qandil region saw more than 20 PKK members, including the head of the women’s branch of the organization – code named ‘Gulten’ – Anadolu Agency’s source claimed.
In Enze, buildings used as PKK headquarters were destroyed and almost 30 female militants were killed.
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, is mainly based around the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq.
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