This file photo shows PKK militants standing in formation in an undisclosed location in northern Iraq.
More than three dozen members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have been killed after Turkish military aircraft carried out a series of airstrikes in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
The Turkish army, in a statement released on Tuesday, said the military aircraft bombarded PKK training camps in the far-flung Qandil Mountains, killing 34 Kurdish militants in the operation.
Also on Tuesday, Turkish jets launched aerial raids against PKK bases in the northern Iraqi province of Dohuk.
According to eyewitnesses, the airstrikes targeted areas in two regions on the outskirts of Amadiyah, the Dohuk provincial capital city.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the aftermath of the aerial attacks.
Turkey has been launching airstrikes against purported Daesh targets in Syria as well as PKK positions in Iraq, after a Daesh bomb attack on July 20 left 32 people dead in the southeastern Turkish town of Suruc, across the border from the northern Syrian town of Kobani.
The PKK later killed two Turkish police officers, saying they had been collaborating with Daesh.
A shaky ceasefire that had stood since 2013 was declared as null by the PKK following the Turkish airstrikes against the group, narrowing chances of the two sides to reach a deal in the near future.
Reports say dozens of Turkish soldiers have been killed in clashes with PKK militants over the past weeks.
Some observers have expressed doubt about Turkey’s intentions in the airstrikes. They say Ankara, which already stands accused of having supported Daesh, cannot be serious in the fight against the terrorist group.
Turkey, they say, is more inclined to target the PKK, which Ankara regards as its number one enemy.
The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s. The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead.