Turkish airstrikes kill 45 Kurdish militants in Iraq after Ankara bombing
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government said it has 'almost certain' information that the Kurdistan Workers Party orchestrated the attack that killed at least 37 people in its capital city.
Turkish warplanes carried out airstrikes on Kurdish militant camps in northern Iraq on Monday, killing 45 Kurdistan Workers Party members, reported Reuters. In a statement, the armed forces said two weapons depots and two Katyusha rocket positions were also destroyed by their jets.
The attack was launched a day after 37 people were killed in an Ankara car bombing believed to be orchestrated by the PKK. Though no one has formally claimed the attack, security officials told Reuters that a female member of the outlawed PKK was involved in the strike. The PKK has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy for the past three decades.
After obtaining "almost certain" findings that suggested the group's involvement in Sunday's attack, the Turkish military sent 11 warplanes to carry out airstrikes on 18 targets in northern Iraq where the Kurdish militants have their bases, the report said. Authorities have detained 15 people in Istanbul in operations against the group and 50 more elsewhere in the country. Sunday's attack is the third in five months to hit Ankara.
