Turkey launches airstrikes against Kurdish rebels in Iraq
The operation comes after attacks by the militants claimed the lives of 30 soldiers.
ANKARA, Turkey — Dozens of Turkish warplanes bombed northern Iraq early Tuesday and special forces troops briefly crossed the border in pursuit of Kurdish fighters after a weekend ambush left at least 16 Turkish soldiers dead.
The assault was Turkey’s most lethal against the insurgents since peace talks between the two sides broke down nearly two months ago.
About 50 warplanes strafed 20 Kurdish positions and resupply points in Iraq, a sustained operation beginning late Monday that lasted about six hours, local media reported.
Sunday’s attack on Turkish troops involved synchronized mine blasts targeting armored vehicles and an ensuing shootout in the town of Daglica, deep in Turkey’s southeastern mountains.
“These terrorists must be wiped out from the mountains; whatever happens, they must be wiped out,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in Ankara after that attack.
“The mountains of this country must not be handed over to terrorists”
Three years of peace talks between Turkish officials and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, aiming to end a 30-year insurgency broke down after an Islamic State suicide bombing in the border town of Suruc in late July.
Since then, violence has escalated steadily throughout Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast, with clashes, ambushes and arrests.
On Tuesday, Kurdish militants killed 14 more soldiers near a remote eastern border gate, raising the number of security personnel slain over the last six weeks to about 100.
The PKK, which is seeking greater self-determination for Turkey’s Kurdish minority, is deemed a terrorist group by the United States as well as Turkey.
The latest attacks have been led by Kurdish youth groups angered by what they say is a history of statesponsored repression.
Rights groups have reported numerous violations by Turkish security personnel, including destruction of property and summary executions. Hundreds of fighters have been killed, as well as civilians.
“The situation is dreadful,” said Tayyup Canan of the Human Rights Assn., reached by phone in the city of Yuksekova. “Communications to Daglica have been cut.”
On Monday, a 12-year-old girl in the restive city of Cizre reportedly was shot in the chest, with Kurdish activists saying that she died at the hands of a police sniper. More than 100 neighborhoods have been declared closed security zones.
Meanwhile, Turkish nationalist anger continued to rise after Sunday’s attack on the soldiers, causing tension across the country.
About 120 offices of the Democratic Party were assaulted Monday, with nationalists burning posters of the pro-Kurdish party, which entered the parliament for the first time in June.
Protesters on Tuesday also marched through a predominantly Kurdish neighborhood in Ankara, the capital, reportedly setting cars ablaze and pelting homes with stones.
The turbulence has sent the Turkish lira plummeting while raising concern for the security of national elections scheduled for Nov. 1.