Turkish forces have killed 771 militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey over the last four weeks, the state news agency Anatolia said Friday.
The agency, whose figures could not be confirmed independently, said among those killed were 430 Kurdish rebels who died in air raids on PKK camps in Iraq, France24 reported.
Another 260 were killed in ground operations in southeastern Turkey, Anatolia said, quoting what it said were sources in military intelligence.
The offensive was launched after 33 pro-Kurdish activists were killed on July 20 in a suicide bombing on the Syrian border blamed on Islamic State militants.
The attack prompted a violent reaction against Turkish police and troops from Kurdish militants, who accuse Ankara’s government of complicity with IS.
On July 24, Ankara launched its first airstrikes against IS in Syria and then also began attacking targets of PKK in northern Iraq, in a dual “war on terror,” although the bombardments so far have been largely concentrated on PKK positions.
Dozens of airstrikes have been carried out, but only three have officially been targeted at IS.
PKK, for its part, has been blamed for attacks that have killed around 50 Turkish soldiers. Eight were killed on Wednesday in a remote-controlled roadside bomb in the southeastern province of Siirt.
