“The military aircrafts bombarded Zargali and Kalak Balayan villages, and the mountainous areas of Zargali,” Rawanduz mayor Kwestan Ahmed told Rudaw.
The strikes had “created fear among the residents,” he added.
Jets also struck in the Sidakan area, north of Rawanduz.
“Hakurk mountains, Gali Rash, and mountainous areas of Shapan village were bombarded,” Ihsan Chalabi, the mayor of Sidakan, told Rudaw.
Three fighter jets were spotted in the skies of northern Erbil province and commenced shelling at around 8 p.m.
Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) confirmed that they targeted PKK positions on Friday in Qandil, adding these positions were used by "the terrorists" as shelters and their ammunition depots were destroyed, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Turkish forces have pushed at least 30 kilometres into the Kurdistan Region in their military campaign against the PKK, aiming for the group’s Qandil headquarters.
The Turkish military claimed on Friday that their jets had “neutralized” 26 PKK fighters in airstrikes on the Qandil region on Tuesday. The military uses the term “neutralized” to refer to those killed, wounded, or otherwise removed from the battlefield.
“We are bombing Qandil right now,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech on Friday, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
“We will have further good news for you in following days,” he added.
Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) confirmed that they targeted PKK positions on Friday in Qandil, adding these positions were used by "the terrorists" as shelters and their ammunition depots were destroyed, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Saturday.
Turkey, nine days away from presidential and parliamentary elections, has stepped up its campaign against the PKK. It launched its Qandil campaign earlier this year after military operations in northern Syria. The PKK is labeled a terror organization by Turkey, Europe, and the US.
Speaking at a funeral for a Turkish soldier killed by the PKK, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the PKK are a threat to the country’s entire Kurdish population.
"The problem of our Kurdish brothers is the separatist terrorist organization [PKK]. The way to solve this problem is to wipe out this terrorist network from these territories so that it will never again return," he said, according to Anadolu Agency.
Kurds make up about a fifth of Turkey’s electorate.
Updated at 11:52 a.m. on June 16
_(1).webp&w=3840&q=75)
