Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish militant targets in Iraq, Syria – ministry

Reuters

ISTANBUL, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish militants targets, including training camps, shelters and ammunition storage areas in Iraq and northern Syria, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

All the planes taking part in the operation, which it said targeted the areas of Derik, Sincar and Karacak, subsequently returned to their bases. It did not provide any information on casualties resulting from the strikes.

“Terrorists’ shelters, caves, tunnels, ammunition depots and so-called headquarters and training camps were targeted,” the ministry statement said, without specifying exactly when the strikes occurred.

It said the air operation targeted militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has bases in Iraq, as well as the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, both of which Turkey regards as terrorist groups.

Turkish warplanes have carried out similar air strikes in the past.

The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which in the past was mainly focused in southeast Turkey.

Reporting by Daren Butler; Editing by Sam Holmes

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