ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey said dozens of its warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel targets as deep as 60 miles inside northern Iraq for three hours Sunday in the largest aerial attack in years against the outlawed separatist group. An Iraqi official said the planes attacked several villages, killing one woman, and the rebels said two civilians and five rebels were killed.
In the nighttime offensive, the fighter jets hit rebel positions close to the border with Turkey and in the Qandil mountains, which straddle the Iraq-Iran border, the Turkish military said in a statement posted on its website. It said the operation was directed against the rebels and not against the local population.
As many as 50 fighter jets were involved in the airstrikes, private NTV television and other media reported. Turkey has recently attacked the area with ground-based artillery and helicopters, and there have been some unconfirmed reports of airstrikes by warplanes.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lauded Sunday’s operation and suggested Turkey could stage more attacks on hideouts of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq.
“This operation, which was carried out under night conditions, was a success,” Erdogan said Sunday. “Our struggle (against the PKK) will continue inside and outside Turkey with the same determination.”
The pro-Kurdish news agency Firat, citing the PKK, said two civilians and five PKK rebels were killed in the raids. The airstrikes destroyed two schools and a hospital, it said, adding that the hospital had been vacated in anticipation of an attack.
The Kurdish rebels also said they responded to Turkish raids with anti-aircraft artillery units, Firat reported.
Turkey has massed tens of thousands of troops along its border with northern Iraq in response to a series of attacks by PKK rebels. In October, parliament voted to authorize the government to order a cross-border operation against the group, which seeks autonomy for the Kurdish minority in southeastern Turkey. The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in the predominantly Kurdish southeast for more than 20 years.
