Turkey 'bombs Kurdish rebel targets'

Turkish F-16 jets have dropped bombs on PKK targets in the Kurdish-majority Hakkari province near the border with Iraq, a source says.

Turkish jets have bombed targets in the southeast where members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) are based, the first strikes on the outlawed group since a 2013 ceasefire, a security source says.

Turkish F-16 jets dropped bombs late on Monday on PKK targets in the village of Daglica in the Kurdish-majority Hakkari province near the border with Iraq, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The fierce clashes between Islamic State (IS) insurgents and Kurdish forces in the key Syrian town of Kobane have shaken Turkey's fragile peace process with the PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community.

Frustrated with Turkey's lack of action to stop IS advance in northern Syria, Turkey's Kurdish community has taken to streets in several cities in the southeast over the past week, with scores killed in deadly clashes.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed the unrest on the "dark forces" seeking to sabotage the delicate peace process with the PKK to end 30 years of violence that has claimed at least 40,000 lives.

The security source told AFP that the PKK had been launching gun attacks on the police station in Daglica since Saturday because of the troubles in Kobane.

The military action was in response to those attacks, it added.


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated


Tags

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Turkey 'bombs Kurdish rebel targets' | SBS News