ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish defense ministry on Tuesday said that its air forces targeted over a dozen alleged Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in the Kurdistan Region, claiming that a large number of the group’s fighters were “neutralized” in the bombardments. The attacks come days after the PKK carried out an explosion in Ankara. Two armed men attacked Turkey’s interior ministry in Ankara on Sunday, with one of them apparently blowing himself up at the entrance of the Turkish general security directorate. Two police officers were slightly injured in the attack which was later claimed by the PKK. Hours later, Turkey targeted 20 alleged PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region. The Turkish defense ministry said in a statement on Tuesday its army carried out airstrikes against 16 suspected PKK targets in Kurdistan Region’s Metina, Gara, Qandil and Asos mountains. “Many terrorists were neutralized by using the maximum amount of domestic and national ammunition in the operations,” said the ministry. Turkey uses the term “neutralized” to denote adversaries captured, wounded, or killed. The PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey and designated a terrorist organization by Ankara. Kamaran Hasan, mayor of Mawat district in Sulaimani province, told Rudaw on Tuesday that an unidentified aircraft targeted the vicinity of two villages in the town without causing any casualties.
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