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Turkey Launches Airstrikes on PKK in Iraq, SE Turkey


FILE - A missile-loaded Turkish Air Force jet after taking off from Incirlik Air Base, in Adana, southern Turkey, July 29, 2015.
FILE - A missile-loaded Turkish Air Force jet after taking off from Incirlik Air Base, in Adana, southern Turkey, July 29, 2015.

Turkish warplanes struck Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant targets in northern Iraq and southeast Turkey on Friday night, the latest raids in a military campaign against the rebel group.

The Turkish army said it hit 23 PKK targets, including shelters and supply points, in Zap, Avasin-Baysan, Hakurk and Qandil areas in northern Iraq with 22 fighter jets.

The airstrikes were carried out between the hours of 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., the army said.

It also said it hit PKK locations in Sirnak province in Turkey's southeast, including shelters and gun points.

The PKK's 31-year-old conflict with the state erupted anew in July, with Turkey launching air strikes on militant camps in response to attacks on its security forces, ending a March 2013 cease-fire. Hundreds have been killed in the latest fighting.

Designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union, the PKK launched a separatist insurgency in 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed. The state launched peace talks with its jailed leader in 2012.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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