Turkish jets pound 50 PKK targets in Iraq: sources
DİYARBAKIR - Agence France-Presse
REUTERS photo
Turkish jets struck more than 50 PKK targets in northern Iraq where members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) are based, military sources said Wednesday, AFP has reported."Sixteen F-16 fighter jets took off from their base in Diyarbakir in the southeast at around 2000 GMT Tuesday and bombed the targets in Qandil mountain in northern Iraq, 90 kilometres from the border," military sources said. "More than 50 targets were hit in the three-hour operation." Turkey says around 2,000 militants are hiding in the mountainous region on the Iraqi side of the border.
The PKK listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community took up arms for autonomy in the Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, sparking an insurgency which have claimed more than 40,000 lives.
The raids, the first in several weeks, come as the long-running conflict between the militants and Turkey appears to reignite and threatens to derail unconfirmed peace talks between Ankara and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
