Turkish army kills 11 PKK members in military operations

Turkish army staged military operations in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey on Tuesday and killed 11 militants of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), Turkish Armed Forces said in a written statement on Wednesday.

Turkish F-16 and F-4 2020 warplanes simultaneously staged military operations in southeastern Hakkari and Semdinli provinces and Avasin-Basyan regions in northern Iraq, according to the statement, killing 11 PKK members, the statement said.

A total of 324 militants of PKK have been killed in Turkey during the operations since March, the General Staff of Turkish Armed Forces said on May 3.

Since a two-year cease-fire between the government and the PKK disintegrated last July, Turkish security forces have launched a major campaign against the PKK in southeast Turkey, leaving over 400 government soldiers and over 3,700 PKK members dead.

The PKK, waging a separatist war against Turkey since 1984, is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

(APD)