Turkey has carried out new artillery attacks on Kurdish separatist positions in northern Iraq, Agence France-Presse reported on Saturday, citing the Turkish defense ministry and Iraqi sources.
While President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said this month that operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraq were coming to an end, a security source in northern Iraq said the latest night-time shelling had been “intense.”
“In line with our right to self-defense, air operations were carried out against terrorist targets in northern Iraq, in the Gara, Qandil and Asos regions,” the Turkish defense ministry said in a statement.
The Turkish army named 25 targets, including “caves, bunkers, shelters, stores and installations” of the PKK. Turkey and most of its Western allies regard the PKK as a terrorist organization. It has been fighting the Turkish state since 1984.
Kamran Othman, a member of the Community Peacemakers Teams (CPT) group active in Iraqi Kurdistan, said the attacks lasted about 45 minutes and that there were no civilian casualties from the shelling.
The Turkish army said it had “neutralized several terrorists.”
CPT said it has recorded more than 230 artillery shellings since June 15, some of which started fires on agricultural land and hit civilians.
Turkey says it wants to establish a security zone in northern Iraq and Syria to prevent the infiltration of militant groups.