Turkish aerial attacks kill nine PKK militants in northern Iraq

Nine members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been killed when Turkish military aircraft carried out a string of aerial attacks against the militants’ positions in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

The Turkish General Staff announced in a statement on Wednesday that the terrorists were killed when Turkish warplanes bombarded their hideouts in the Hakurk, Zap, Avasin Basyan, and Metina regions.

The slain terrorists were reportedly planning attacks on Turkish military bases along the border.

The statement further noted that considerable amounts of munitions belonging to PKK terrorists were destroyed in the aerial attacks.

The Tunceli Provincial Governor’s Office, in a statement released on December 17, announced that high-profile PKK terrorist Murat Dag, better known by the nom de guerre Ferhat Yilmaz, had been killed along with seven other terrorists during an offensive in the Pulumur district of the province, situated some 800 kilometers (497 miles) east of the capital Ankara.

The statement added that Dag was on the Turkish Interior Ministry’s list of wanted terrorists.

Earlier this month, the Turkish General Staff stated that 39 PKK terrorists were killed between December 1 and December 8.

One Turkish soldier was killed and another sustained gunshot wounds during the same period.

Additionally, 27 improvised explosives were defused, 63 arms depots destroyed, and large amounts of weapons seized.

Ankara has been engaged in a large-scale campaign against the PKK in its southern border region. The Turkish military has also been conducting offensives against the positions of the group in northern Iraq.

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

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

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