Turkey hits 64 PKK targets in new Iraq air strikes: report

ANKARA - Agence France-Presse

REUTERS photo

Turkish warplanes struck 64 outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in overnight raids on northern Iraq, dropping 80 bombs, according to reports on Sept. 11. 

At least 60 PKK militants were killed in the strikes, carried out by 21 Turkish F-16 and F-4 warplanes, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported, quoting security sources. 

The toll could not be verified independently. The strikes, which ran from late Sept. 10 to dawn Sept. 11, are the latest in a relentless air campaign aimed at crippling the PKK, which has staged a string of attacks in Turkey in recent weeks. 

Meanwhile, Iraq has condemned Turkey for sending ground troops onto its territory in pursuit of the PKK militants, calling it a “clear violation” of its sovereignty. 

“The foreign ministry expresses its condemnation of the incursion of a number of Turkish military units inside Iraqi territory,” spokesman Ahmed Jamal said in a statement. 

“It represents a clear violation of Iraqi sovereignty and a clear offence to bilateral relations between the two countries,” he said.

Turkish special forces entered Iraq on Sept. 8 in what officials termed a “short-term” incursion in pursuit of the PKK following attacks that killed more than two dozen soldiers and police.