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Turkish planes destroy rebel headquarters

DIYARBAKIR (Turkey): Turkish warplanes which took off from the Diyarbakir airbase hit the headquarters of the banned Kurdish Workers Party ( PKK) on the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq on Sunday, eye witnesses said. They claimed that following the bombing by 24 Turkish warplanes, the PKK headquarters office collapsed. Two other buildings nearby were also hit by missiles.

Hussein Ahmad Elchi, Sub-Governor of Qalediza town near Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq, said one person was killed and six others were injured in the Turkish operation. A statement issued by the Turkish General Staff said the warplanes bombed the PKK targets in northern Iraq early in the day. It said the warplanes hit PKK targets in the regions bordering Turkish territories as well as in Qandil Mountains, which is further away from the frontier.

The military operation was also backed by Turkish land forces’ long-range weapons, it added. “The operations will continue in line with the necessities of the military within the scope of the authorisation given to the Turkish armed forces in the fight against the terrorist organisation PKK,” the statement said. The Turkish military has launched several cross-border attacks recently in a bid to fight separatist PKK rebels, who use northern Iraq as a launchpad for attacks in Turkey.

Security operations are underway in south-eastern and eastern Turkey as 100,000 Turkish troops have massed along the border in preparation for a possible cross-border operation.

The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the south-east. More than 30,000 persons have been killed in the conflict. Meanwhile in Duesseldorf, Germany, about 10,000 Kurds calling for the release of rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan demonstrated on Sunday, police said.

About 1,000 officers were deployed in the western German city to prevent trouble at the march, which also protested potential Turkish military involvement in northern Iraq. — Xinhua

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