Turkish Air Force Attacks Kurdish Terrorist Targets in Iraq

Turkish Air Force hits PKK's camps in Iraq after convoy attacked.

Turkey's air force attacked 28 suspected Kurdish terrorist targets in northern Iraq, the military said Friday, in a second day of cross-border strikes in retaliation for stepped up attacks by the terrorists.

Nearly 100 rounds of artillery also were fired as the warplanes bombed sites on Thursday in the largely mountainous areas just across the border with Iraq as well as on Mount Qandil on the Iraqi-Iranian border, the military said.

The Turkish air force struck suspected encampments of the PKK Kurdish Workers Party in northern Iraq, hours after 12 Turkish troops were killed in an ambush nearby, news reports said.

Fifteen fighter jets late Wednesday bombed two bases of the PKK, which is outlawed in Turkey, broadcaster NTV said.

Operations began at 9 pm (1700 GMT), and lasted for several hours, the report said.

Nearly 100 rounds of artillery also were fired as the warplanes bombed sites on Thursday in the largely mountainous areas just across the border with Iraq as well as on Mount Qandil on the Iraqi-Iranian border, the military said.

In Wednesday's attacks, the air force targeted 60 sites in northern Iraq, which rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, use as a springboard for hit-and-run attacks in Turkey.

Istanbul has blamed the PKK for the fatal mine and gunfire attack earlier Wednesday on a military convoy in the south-eastern province of Hakkari, which borders Iraq.

In July, the PKK allegedly killed 13 Turkish soldiers in the bloodiest clash with the rebels for three years. At the weekend, three more soldiers were shot dead.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wednesday promised tougher action against the Kurdish terrorists.

PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, and that was clear at the U.S. State Department, where spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed Turkey's latest attacks against "PKK terrorists" in northern Iraq.

The PKK is fighting for autonomy in the southeastern Turkey. The conflict between Turkey and the PKK has lasted for over 25 years, claiming over 40,000 lives. The PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by both the UN and the EU.


Source: By XAIRFORCES NEWS / AP - Istanbul/Turkey

Photo: Turkish Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcons [www.xairforces.net]

(20.08.2011)