Turkish jets destroy eight PKK targets in northern Iraq

Turkish jets have destroyed eight PKK targets in northern Iraq, the military said on Thursday morning.

Turkey has been fighting the PKK - which is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, US and the EU - for over three decades. In its campaign of violence against Turkey, which has lasted for more than three decades, the PKK has been responsible for killing over 40,000 civilians and security personnel.

The air strikes were carried out on Wednesday in northern Iraq's Hakurk and Zap regions, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement.

Air strikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq where the group has its main base in the Qandil mountains, located along the Iranian border and southeastern Turkey, have been carried out regularly since July 2015, when the group resumed its armed campaign after breaking a two-year ceasefire. 

The air strikes have taken place as Operation Olive Branch continues across the Turkish border in Afrin, northwestern Syria, aimed at quashing the PKK's Syrian affiliate, the YPG.

Iraqi army kills 11 Daesh militants

Eleven Daesh militants were killed in an Iraqi security operation in the northern Kirkuk province on Thursday, according to a local police officer.

The militants were intercepted at a point close to the town of Riyad as a result of intelligence obtained, police Captain Muntazar al Saadi said.

Meanwhile, five Iraqi soldiers were killed in a Daesh ambush at an area close to a military base in the eastern Diyala province in Iraq, Captain Habib al Shamri said.

In the Et Tarimiyye district in Salahaddin province, six Daesh militants, including four foreign nationals, were killed by Iraqi army drones, army Captain Nezhan al Hidir announced.

In late February, at least 27 pro-government fighters were killed in a Daesh ambush in the southwestern Kirkuk province.

Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh’s military presence in Iraq had been all but dismantled. 

However, it appears that the militant group still maintains a network of “sleeper cells” in several parts of the country.