ISTANBUL, (Reuters) – Turkish warplanes struck Kurdish guerrilla targets in northern Iraq on Thursday, state-run news agency Anatolian reported a military official as saying on Friday.
Turkey’s military has waged offensives both in Turkish territory and across the border in northern Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Clashes between the Turkish military and the PKK intensify in the spring as heavy snows melt in eastern Turkey and northern Iraq, making it easier for PKK rebels to cross into Turkey and attack military posts.
Military sources previously told Reuters that the army was building up troops along the border with Iraq to prevent the entry of guerrillas into Turkish territory. There were no further details immediately available about Thursday’s air strikes.
The guerrillas use the mountainous area of Iraq as a base to launch attacks in Turkey.
Nearly 40,000 people have died in conflict between Turkish security forces and the PKK since 1984 when the rebel group picked up arms to establish an ethnic Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey.
Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat is the world’s premier pan-Arab daily newspaper, printed simultaneously each day on four continents in 14 cities. Launched in London in 1978, Asharq Al-Awsat has established itself as the decisive publication on pan-Arab and international affairs, offering its readers in-depth analysis and exclusive editorials, as well as the most comprehensive coverage of the entire Arab world.
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