Alwaght- Turkish air force has killed tens of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters during series of airstrikes in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Based on a statement published by the General Staff of Turkish military, at least 57 PKK militants were killed and scores of others injured between January 13 and 14 as Turkish warplanes bombarded their hideouts in the Metina area.
The attacks were apparently in retaliation for an explosion in the southeastern and Kurdish-populated province of Diyarbakir that killed four police officers on 16 January.
A total of 110 PKK militants were killed and 42 others captured during clashes with Turkish security forces in December last year, according to figures compiled by Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency.
Fifty-five members of the security personnel were also killed, and 10 civilians lost their lives during the mentioned period.
Furthermore, 1,146 PKK suspects were arrested, out of whom 604 were taken into custody.
A shaky ceasefire between the PKK, which has been calling for an autonomous Kurdish region since 1984, and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015. Attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since.
Over the past few months, Turkish ground and air forces have been carrying out operations against the PKK positions in the country’s troubled southeastern border region as well as northern Iraq and Syria.
