Five PKK militants ‘neutralized’ in northern Iraq

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Five outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants have been “neutralized” in an airstrike on April 18 in northern Iraq, the Turkish military stated on April 18.

The Turkish General Staff said air operations had been conducted against the PKK in the Zap region of northern Iraq, in which three targets were also destroyed.

Airstrikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq, where the PKK has its main base in the Qandil Mountain region near the Iranian border, have been carried out regularly since July 2015, when a peace process between Ankara and the PKK broke down.

35 militants killed in Turkey over last three weeks

Security forces have killed 35 militants in anti-terror operations in eastern and southern Turkey over the last three weeks, the Interior Ministry and the Turkish Armed Forces announced on April 17.

Gendarmerie commands in the southern provinces of Hatay and Osmaniye killed 25 militants in the Mount Amanos region of Hatay on the border with Syria. Two of the militants were neutralized in Hatay’s İskenderun district, the statement added.

Later, the Turkish Armed Forces announced on social media that 10 more militants were “neutralized” during airstrikes in eastern and southern Turkey.

The airstrikes were conducted on April 15-16 in the eastern Ağrı province’s Doğubeyazıt district and Hatay’s Mount Amanos region, according to the Turkish army.

Seven more PKK militants were also killed by Turkish gendarmerie forces in the southeastern province of Siirt, according to the Siirt Governor’s Office.

The office said in a statement that a tip about militants in the area prompted unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to be sent to the Ayva Hill region of Mount Yazlıca along the Siirt-Şırnak border.

Seven militants detected by the UAVs were killed in operations backed by F-16 fighter jets and ATAK combat helicopters, said the statement.