UPDATE - Turkish jets hit 8 PKK terror targets in northern Iraq

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS AND OPERATION IN DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY; HEADLINE, DECK CHANGED

By Mehmet Tosun and Hasan Namli

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish jets have destroyed eight terrorist PKK targets in northern Iraq, the military said on Thursday morning.

The airstrikes were carried out on Wednesday in northern Iraq's Hakurk and Zap regions as the terrorist PKK was preparing for attacks, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement.

Airstrikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq, where the terror group has its main base in the Mt. Qandil region, near the Iranian border, have been carried out regularly since July 2015, when the PKK resumed its armed terror campaign.

Separately, in Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakir province, eight caves, 14 shelters, and three positions of PKK terrorists were destroyed by Turkish forces, according to a statement by the governor’s office.

The statement said that the operation against the terror group began on March 10 and ended on Wednesday in the villages of Kayikoy, Kirkpinar, and Kursunlu in Dicle, Diyarbakir and in the northern Gorusedagi Hill region.

During the operation, three soldiers were martyred, and four others were injured, including one in serious condition, the statement added.

Many ammunition including rocket launchers, infantry rifles, Kalashnikovs, guns, hand grenades, packs of anti-tank ammo, anti-personnel ammo and cartridges, as well as water, food, and living supplies were seized during the four-day operation.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey as well as the U.S. and the EU. In its terror campaign against Turkey, which has lasted for more than three decades, over 40,000 people have been killed, including women and children.

The airstrikes take place amid the Turkish-led Operation Olive Branch across the Turkish border in Afrin, northwestern Syria, targeting the threat of the PKK's Syrian branch, the terrorist YPG/PYD/PKK.