At least 23 PKK militants killed in Turkish airstrikes

In a statement, the military confirmed that 10 militants were killed, three weapons depots and a hideout were destroyed in eastern Turkey's Van province Saturday night.

Another 13 militants, preparing to carry out attacks, were killed in northern Iraq's Avaşin-Basyan region. Seven hideouts, including two caves, two blockhouses, two weapon pits and a shelter used by the PKK were also destroyed in the region early Sunday, the military said.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU, resumed its nearly 40-year-long armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Turkey regularly bombs the mountainous border area between Iraq and Turkey where PKK militants are based. Ankara has also deployed troops into the Iraqi soil, triggering a diplomatic crisis with Baghdad which brought them to the brink of a war at one point.

The troops are based in a town near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is currently the focus of a massive operation to recapture it from Daesh terrorists.

Baghdad has repeatedly called on Ankara to withdraw its forces, describing the military presence as a violation of its sovereignty, and warned that the troops stood to complicate the Mosul battle.

Turkey deployed its troops to Iraq in December 2015, claiming that it was part of a mission to train Iraqi Kurdish forces in the fight against Daesh. Some 500 Turkish forces are said to be present at the Bashiqa military camp on the outskirts of Mosul.

​In April, Turkey’s pro-government Yeni Safak daily said Ankara planned to launch a military incursion into northern Iraq.

Dubbed Tigris Shield, the mission would involve thousands of tanks, vehicles and artillery pieces used in Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria, which ended in March after seven months, the report added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said then Operation Euphrates Shield was only the "first stage" of what he called Turkey’s counter-terrorism battle, warning that the next phases of the operation would be broader, and include the Iraqi areas of Sinjar and Tal Afar.



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