Turkey Kills 67 Kurdish Militants in Northern Iraq Airstrikes

Imposes New Curfews Against Kurdish Towns Near Border

Turkey’s Army confirmed a flurry of airstrikes against northern Iraq on Saturday, claiming to have killed at least 67 people, all of them “Kurdish militants.” The strikes targeted several towns known to have a PKK presence.

During the ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK, much of the Kurdish separatist group relocated to Iraq as part of the deal, pending negotiations. When Turkey abandoned the ceasefire last year, they started attacking both the Kurdish southeast of Turkey and northern Iraq.

Turkey also announced the expansion of their 24-7 military curfews into additional Kurdish towns around the Iraqi border, fueling an exodus of civilians from towns which will, under the curfew, be under constant attack by military snipers.

Turkey has come under growing criticism from human rights groups for its use of curfews, which have cut off civilians trapped in those towns from basic aid, and barring wounded civilians trapped within from escaping to receive medical aid. Turkey, for its part, insists everyone within is a “terrorist.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.