Turkey pummels PKK ‘targets’ in Iraqi Kurdistan
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The strikes came after a PKK suicide bombing in Ankara targeted the police headquarters in Ankara.
PHOTO: AFP
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ARBIL, Iraq – Turkey hit several places inside Iraqi Kurdistan with air strikes on Sunday, a local official said, with Ankara confirming it had struck “20 targets” it claimed were used by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters.
“Turkish army planes bombed parts… of the Bradost region at around 9.20pm, as well as the village of Badran,” Mr Ihsan Chelabi, mayor of the town of Sidakan, close to the Turkish and Iranian borders, told AFP.
Turkey’s Defence Ministry acknowledged an “air operation” in northern Iraq to “neutralise the PKK”, which is considered a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.
“An air operation was carried out in the regions of Metina, Hakurk, Qandil and Gara, in northern Iraq, on Oct 1 at 2100,” the statement said.
It said the operation was “to neutralise the PKK and other terrorist elements, prevent terrorist attacks from northern Iraq against our population and our law enforcement agencies, and ensure the security of our borders”.
The ministry added that “20 targets used by terrorists” had been destroyed.
The strikes came after a PKK suicide bombing in Ankara targeted the police headquarters in the heart of the capital, injuring two people.
Kurdish media outlet Rudaw reported air strikes on the heights of Mount Qandil, traditionally considered a PKK stronghold near the border with Iran.
The presidency of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, which maintains close ties with the Turkish authorities, condemned the “terrorist attack” in Ankara, saying “terrorism and violence represent a serious threat to regional peace and stability”.
In Baghdad, the Foreign Ministry also condemned the “terrorist explosion”.
Turkish counterterrorism police have also detained 20 people in raids targeting PKK-linked suspects in Istanbul and elsewhere, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Monday.
A provincial Kurdish spokesman and district heads of a large pro-Kurdish political party were among those detained, suspected of collecting aid and providing shelter for PKK members, Mr Yerlikaya said on messaging platform X.
Turkey’s military regularly launches ground and air operations against PKK fighters and their positions in northern Iraq, in autonomous Kurdistan and in the mountainous Sinjar region.
Over the past 25 years, Turkey has set up dozens of military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan to combat the group. AFP, REUTERS
