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28 March 2024

Turkish forces kill 5 PKK fighters in Batman

Published
By Reuters

Turkish security forces killed five Kurdish insurgents on Friday after discovering them hiding in a cave in the southeastern province of Batman, while warplanes launched strikes on militant targets in northern Iraq.

A statement on the military's website said the air strikes were successful and the planes had returned to base, but gave no other details.

The government has said it will hold a full investigation into an air strike on the Iraqi border on Dec. 28 that killed 35 civilians, described as cigarette and diesel smugglers, after they had been mistaken for militants.

More than 40,000 militants, soldiers and civilians have been killed since the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) began its fight for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast in 1984.

Turkey, the United States and the European Union all classify the PKK as a terrorist organisation.