Turkish jets hit PKK positions in northern Iraq (Roundup)

Oct 3, 2008, 11:21 GMT

Ankara/Baghdad - Turkish warplanes bombed suspected Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq late Thursday night, the Dogan news agency reported on Friday in Ankara.

Three Turkish Air Force jets took part in a half-hour bombing mission at around 7 pm (1700 GMT) against targets in the mountainous Kandil region near the Iraqi border with Iran, Dogan reported.

The report quoted the media arm of the Iraqi party Patriotic Union of Kurdistan for the development.

Earlier in Baghdad, a Kurdish source had disclosed to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa the raid by Turkish warplanes in mountainous areas in the al-Sulmaniyah region of northern Iraq.

'Turkish planes bombed Kandil Mountains for three and a half hours,' the source said. Sulmaniyah is located some 350 kilometres north-east the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

No casualties were reported from the bombing, the source said.

The Turkish Air Force has conducted a number of airstrikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq since a week-long cross-border incursion into northern Iraq was launched in February.

Ankara blames the separatist group for the deaths of more than 35,000 people since the early 1980s when the PKK began its fight for independence or autonomy for the mainly Kurdish-populated south-east of Turkey.

The PKK is considered by the United States and the European Union to be a terrorist group.