Over 90 Kurdish Militants Killed in Airstrikes by Turkish Air Force

The Turkish Air Force killed between 30 and 35 Kurdish rebels in Turkey's Tunceli Province and between 55-60 were killed in northern Iraq.

ANKARA (Sputnik) – Over 90 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants were killed in Turkey's Tunceli Province and in northern Iraq in airstrikes conducted by the Turkish Air Force, local media reported Saturday, citing military sources.

Between 30 and 35 Kurdish rebels were killed in Tunceli in the recent airstrikes carried out by two F-16 fighter jets, the Sabah newspaper reported.

According to the media, Turkey’s F-16 and F-4 fighter jets airstrikes on PKK targets in the Haftanin region in northern Iraq resulted in the deaths of 55-60 militants and the destruction of the group’s shelters and armories.

Tensions in Turkey escalated in late July, when the country launched a military campaign against the PKK in southern Turkey and northern Iraq, after the militants claimed responsibility for the murders of two Turkish police officers.

The PKK, considered to be a terrorist organization by Ankara, began its separatist insurgency in 1984. The group seeks to create a Kurdish state in parts of Turkey and Iraq.

According to Turkish authorities, over 110 police officers, servicemen and civilians became victims of the Kurdish militants in the past two months.