Turkish jets hit PKK targets after Kurdish ambush kills 15 soldiers

Attack marks further deterioration in relations between Kurds and government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after fragile ceasefire broke down in July

 After Kurdish militants claimed to have killed 15 Turkish soldiers, Turkish jets retaliated. Pictured is a Turkish Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16. Photograph: Bernd Settnik/AP

Reuters in Ankara-Monday 7 September 2015

Kurdish militants have said they killed 15 Turkish soldiers in an attack on a convoy of armoured vehicles in south-east Turkey, in what could be the bloodiest assault since the collapse of a ceasefire in July.

The number of casualties could not be independently verified but in a televised statement President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirmed that an attack had taken place near the village of Dağlica, in Hakkari province, close to Turkey’s borders with Iran and Iraq.

In a statement posted online on Sunday, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) said its guerrillas had ambushed the convoy in Yüksekova district.

“An attack from several sides left 15 soldiers dead, and a large number of weapons were seized in the action,” the statement read.

Turkey’s military said on Monday its warplanes bombarded PKK targets overnight in retaliation. Two F-16 and two F-14 jets had struck 13 PKK targets and military operations were continuing “decisively” on Monday morning despite very poor weather, it said.

The clash is the latest in a deadly stream of attacks since July, which officials said had already claimed the lives of at least 70 members of the security services and hundreds of PKK militants.

The PKK has fought a three-decades-long insurgency against the government, demanding greater Kurdish autonomy. The group is listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States.

Ankara and the Kurds blame each other for the collapse of the ceasefire, which has left efforts to bring a lasting end to the conflict in tatters.

“A new strategy will be adopted in the fight against [PKK] terror. We’ll continue with determination,” Erdoğan said in his address.