A new statement from the Turkish Army reported a flurry of airstrikes on Monday against targets in Hakurk and Metina, in northern Iraq, killing at least 29 people, all of whom they labeled PKK militants.
Turkish attacks against northern Iraq are fairly common, and everyone killed in the Kurdish region tends to be labeled PKK in official statements, despite a lot of questions about who exactly is being killed.
Turkey’s statement this time claimed that the slain militants were planning an attack on the Turkish border, and that the airstrikes destroyed a number of caves and shelters, killing all within. This only adds to questions about how they know everyone was a militant.
Turkey has been at war with the PKK, a secessionist movement, since the 1980s. During a brief ceasefire with Turkey in recent years, many PKK fighters were sent into Iraq, pending negotiations, and since those talks collapsed, Turkey has used that as justification to strike Iraq.