Airstrikes hit 14 PKK targets in Kandil Mountains

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

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Turkish airstrikes destroyed 14 targets belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Qandil Mountain region of northern Iraq, the military said in a statement on June 10.

Airstrikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq, where the insurgent group has its headquarters in the Kandil Mountains near the Iranian border, have been carried out regularly since July 2015, after a ceasefire between the Turkish state and the militant group failed.

“A military operation targeting PKK bases in Jandil and Sinjar will be launched if Turkey is threatened and if Baghdad says it is unable to solve the problem.” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on June 7.

Erdoğan also said that the United Nations refugee camp Mahmur in the Arbil governorate could be another target.

“Mahmur is very important. If the United Nations cannot solve this problem, we will strike Mahmur,” he said, describing the camp as a “breeding ground for terrorists.”

The General Staff also announced that two militants were neutralized in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq during an airstrike on June 10.

The authorities often use the word “neutralized” in statements to imply that the militants in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

Separately, the Interior Ministry stated on June 11 that a total of 69 militants were “neutralized” during counter-terrorism operations across Turkey over the past week.