Turkish jets target PKK positions in Qandil mountains

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — At least two reportedly Turkish jets launched a string of airstrikes on Wednesday against what they have described as Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions on the outskirts of Mount Qandil near the town of Warte in Ruwanduz located in northern Erbil Province in the Kurdistan Region.

“Fighter jets are heavily bombing the heights and areas of the region of Kuzina which is where the villages of Zargali and Bokriskani are situated, in the Warte area,” the mayor of Rawanduz, Kwestan Ahmed, told Rudaw.

The areas were described as PKK bases by Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News, which added that security forces acted after intelligence sources reported movement in the Zab region, indicating that the fighters were descending from the mountains.

“The area of Kuzina is deserted, which is why there have been no civilian casualties there. However, villagers of this region are anxious and frightened due to Turkey’s past bombings which claimed the lives of the locals there and incurred damage to their properties,” Ahmed added.

Today’s bombings come two days after the bombings of the surrounding areas of the town of Amedi in Duhok province, which “claimed the lives of four guerrilla fighters and wounded five more,” according to a statement released by the Peoples’ Defense Force (YPG), which Turkey considers to be the same as the PKK.

“As a result of intense shelling from Turkish warplanes on our positions, these guerrillas were martyred,” read the statement.

The statement also disclosed that another four “guerrillas” were also wounded in the bombings.

However, the Turkish General Staff published different figures claiming that as many as 20 PKK fighters were killed in the airstrikes.

Turkey has been sporadically bombing PKK bases inside the Kurdistan Region in the wake of the resumption of clashes between Ankara and the Kurdish guerrillas in July 2015.

The PKK has some 5,000 guerrilla soldiers stationed mostly in the remote, mountainous areas of the Kurdistan Region bordering Turkey. The group is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.