A series of airstrikes were conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) over the Zab and Gara regions in the northern Iraq, as part of an operation on the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Friday night.
According to reports attributed to military sources, the operation was staged in response to an intelligence obtained by the army and took place at around 10:00 p.m. and 11:46 p.m.
A total of 27 targets, which were previously determined, were destroyed, the reports say. The war jets safely returned to their bases.
The PKK is designated as a “terrorist organization” by the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), as well as Turkey. The 32-year-old conflict, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives, halted in March 2013 as part of the settlement process initiated between the PKK and the Turkish government. However, the PKK ended the ceasefire in the summer of 2015.
There have been repeated clashes between security forces and PKK members since the cease-fire collapsed in July 2015. Nearly 200,000 locals in the Southeast have been forced to leave their homes due to fighting and curfews.
The Turkish General Staff recently released a statement, saying that a total of 1,000 members of the PKK were killed in the operations in the southeastern provinces of Şırnak and Mardin between March 14 and June 3.
The authorities have been imposing curfews in southeastern towns and districts to flush PKK militants from urban areas in Turkey’s mostly Kurdish Southeast since the collapse of the peace process.