UPDATE - Turkish jets hit PKK targets in northern Iraq

By Mehmet Tosun and Sarp Ozer

UPDATES WITH 12 MORE TERRORISTS KILLED, EDITS THROUGHOUT

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish Air Force killed 29 PKK terrorists in raids on northern Iraq, the military said Monday.

Strikes on PKK targets in Iraq’s Hakurk region resulted in 17 terrorists being “neutralized”, a term the military uses to signify the killing of terrorists.

According to a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, at least three terrorist shelters were also destroyed.

Later, 12 further PKK terrorists were killed and shelters destroyed in an airstrike on the Metina region. The terrorists had been preparing to attack military outposts on the border, the official added.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU. In 33 years of violence against Turkey, more than 40,000 people have been killed.

The group uses northern Iraq’s mountainous border region to launch attacks on Turkey and has its main base at Qandil, near the Iraq-Iran border.