Turkish jets 'destroy' Kurdish rebel targets
Turkish jets 'destroy' Kurdish rebel targets
Turkish warplanes destroyed 10 Kurdish rebel positions in the restive southeast as Ankara steps up its fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party.
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Jets bombed four PKK targets in the Cukurca district [Getty]
Turkish warplanes have destroyed 10 Kurdish rebel positions in the restive southeast as Ankara steps up its fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Jets bombed four PKK targets in the Cukurca district of the southeastern province of Hakkari close to northern Iraq on Saturday evening.
The bombing took place after a bloody 48 hours during which at least 22 Turkish soldiers and a village guardsman were killed in clashes and an attack blamed on PKK militants.
Twelve soldiers were killed in two separate clashes in Cukurca and Semdinli districts in Hakkari, the provincial governor's office said, while in Van province, eight soldiers died during fighting between soldiers and militants.
The village guard – killed in an attack in Mardin in the southeast on Friday – was part of a group of local residents who cooperate with Turkish security forces against the PKK, listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.
Another six PKK positions were hit in the Mount Tendurek region between Agri and Van provinces in the country's east on Saturday evening, state-run Anadolu news agency said.
The Turkish military said more than 100 PKK fighters were "neutralised" during clashes with its security forces on Saturday, without explaining how many were killed and how many were injured.
| Read also: Kurdish disunity on the frontlines in Iraq and Syria (Part I & Part II) |
A two-year ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK collapsed last year, after which Kurdish rebels launched frequent attacks on security forces in the country's southeast.
Turkey has been conducting an operation since August 24 in Syria against IS and the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara describes as an offshoot of the PKK.
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Agencies contributed to this report
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