Warplanes destroyed 42 shelters, six caves, 15 logistics facilities and seven training facilities as well as weapons, ammunition and other materials in Monday's attack on the PKK targets, the military said in a statement. It also distributed video recordings showing missiles hitting the targets, including what appears to be a building, and smoke billowing from the sites of the attack. Photos of the targeted sites before and after the raids were also made available.The operation was the fifth confirmed attack on PKK targets in northern Iraq since Dec. 16. The military has so far estimated that as many as 175 PKK terrorists were killed in four previous raids.
In Monday's attacks on PKK targets in the Avasin-Basyan and Hakurk regions of northern Iraq, planes hit 70 targets that were "detected and verified by intelligence sources," the Turkish military said earlier, in a possible reference to the US intelligence it is receiving. "All targets were successfully hit in the air operation," the military said on Thursday.
The United States backs Turkish operations in northern Iraq by supplying intelligence and offering airspace clearance for Turkish warplanes. The PKK is using northern Iraqi bases to launch attacks on Turkey. A lack of US cooperation had been a major irritant in Turkish-US ties before US President George W. Bush pledged to step up cooperation at a Nov. 5 meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The military is also conducting operations against PKK targets inside Turkey. Commando units backed by Sikorsky and Cobra helicopters intensified on Mt. Gabar and Mt. Cudi and the Bestler-Dereler region in Turkey's province of Şırnak, which borders Iraq. Soldiers have been conducting searches for land mines in -15 degree Celsius temperatures.
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