ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkish jets raided suspected Kurdish rebel targets across the border in northern Iraq, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported Thursday, following a wave of attacks that killed at least 12 people.
Meanwhile, police in Istanbul conducted a series of raids across the city, including a branch of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish political party, detaining 17 suspected Kurdish militants, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The cross-border raid and police operation came a day after four Turkish soldiers were killed near the border with Iraq in attacks targeting military vehicles and eight other people died in southeast Turkey in simultaneous bomb attacks targeting police vehicles.
Officials blamed all three attacks – which occurred as Turkey was still dealing with the aftermath of the failed July 15 military coup – on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
The Turkish warplanes attacked PKK rebels in the Sinath-Haftanin region of northern Iraq, Anadolu reported, citing unnamed security sources. It said the military was still assessing the damage.