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At least 10 killed as Turkish jets bomb northern Iraq

Turkish fighter jet (file photo)

Turkish fighter jets have bombarded the southeastern areas of Turkey and the northern parts of neighboring Iraq, killing at least 10 people, Turkish security sources say.

According to the sources, the victims of the Wednesday airstrikes in the Turkish province of Hakkari and in northern Iraq were members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group.

Ankara has been engaged in a large-scale campaign against the PKK in its southern border region in the past few months. The Turkish military has also been pounding the group’s positions in northern Iraq.

The operations began in the wake of a deadly July 2015 bombing in the southern Turkish town of Suruc. More than 30 people died in the attack, which the Turkish government blamed on the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.

After the bombing, the PKK militants, who accuse the government in Ankara of supporting Daesh, engaged in a series of reprisal attacks against Turkish police and security forces, prompting the Turkish military operations.

A shaky ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK that had stood since 2013 was declared null and void by the militants following the Turkish strikes against the group.

The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey since 1984. The conflict has left more than 40,000 people dead.


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