Some 20 PKK Militants Killed in Turkish Southeast, Iraqi North

Several Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members were killed by Turkish Armed Forces in Iraq and Turkey amid limited sporadic violence, the Turkish General Staff said Wednesday.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — About 20 militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were killed by Turkish Armed Forces in a number of operations in country's southeastern provinces, as well as in northern Iraqi regions, the Turkish General Staff said Wednesday.

According to the information released by the staff's press service, three PKK militants were killed in the district of Nusaybin, located in the province of Mardin, while four more were killed during the operation in the province of Sirnak.

It was added in the released information that 11 militants were killed in the aerial operation of the Turkish Air Force conducted in the Turkish province of Hakkari and in the neighboring regions of northern Iraq.

Violence in Turkey escalated in mid-2015, when the Turkish government launched a military campaign against the PKK, which is considered to be a terrorist organization by Ankara, in the country's southeast. Violence escalated further in December, when the Turkish authorities declared a curfew in a number of southeastern regions.