Turkey carried out new airstrikes overnight from Friday to Saturday against fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the mountains of northern Iraq, according to sources in both countries. The Turkish Ministry of Defense stated in a statement: "In accordance with our right to self-defense, air operations were conducted against terrorist targets in northern Iraq in the areas of Qara, Qandil, and Asos."
The Turkish army, which regularly conducts raids in the region, reported that it struck 25 targets "including caves, shelters, hideouts, warehouses, and facilities" belonging to the PKK, which has been waging a guerrilla war against Turkish authorities since 1984 and is classified as a "terrorist" organization by Ankara and its Western allies.
A security source in northern Iraq described these strikes as "intensive." According to Komran Osman, a member of the Community Peace Teams organization based in Iraqi Kurdistan, the raids lasted for about 45 minutes. No civilian casualties were reported, according to the source, who mentioned damage to agricultural land.
The Turkish army confirmed that it was able to "neutralize several terrorists." Baghdad condemned the Turkish military operations on Iraqi territory. The PKK has rear bases in the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where there have also been Turkish military bases for 25 years.
