Turkish warplanes bomb Kurdish rebel bases: army

Turkish warplanes have bombed bases of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey and northern Iraq and also killed three Kurdish militants during clashes in the restive southeast , the army and security sources said on Tuesday.

A 22-year-old suspected member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was killed in the Silvan district of Diyarbakir province, the local governor’s office said, after a curfew had been imposed in the area.

Another two members of the PKK youth branch were killed in the Yuksekova district of Hakkari province when police tried to tear down barricades built by the rebels, security sources told AFP.

“Shelters, caves and arms depots identified as being used by terrorists from the separatist terrorist organisation were destroyed with air bombardments,” the military said.

Monday’s air strikes targeted PKK bases in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern province of Hakkari near the Iraqi border, as well as several regions in northern Iraq including their main stronghold on Qandil mountain.

The latest army operation comes just after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) swept back to power in Sunday’s election.

The government has waged a new war against the PKK and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants since July, shattering a fragile 2013 truce with the Kurdish rebels.

The PKK conflict resumed after a bombing on pro-Kurdish activists in the border town of Suruc in July that killed 34 people and was blamed on ISIS.

Kurdish rebels launched an armed campaign for greater autonomy in southeastern Turkey in 1984 and the conflict has since claimed 45,000 lives.