Turkey resumes mass shelling of PKK, claims 190 killed

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Thirty Turkish fighter jets launched a wave of air raids against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkish authorities were quoted as saying Friday.  

The Hurriyet Daily News has reported an intelligence source saying that 30 F-16s shelled 130 targets in the Qandil Mountains both inside the Turkey and in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.  

The source also claimed that Turkish airstrikes have killed 190 PKK guerrillas and injured at least 300 others.      

The latest conflict has possibly brought to a halt a peace agreement reached between Ankara and the PKK two years ago.

Tensions in Turkey escalated after the PKK claimed responsibility for assassinating two policemen in Gaziantep last Wednesday, ending the shaky peace process with Ankara that began in 2013.

In the last week, Turkish air force jets and artillery have kept up a hail of attacks against the PKK, including a fourth round of airstrikes on Tuesday on PKK camps in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
 
The airstrikes coincide with nationwide raids inside Turkey serious confrontations between Kurdish activists and the Turkish police.