Turkey carries out overnight air raids against PKK

Turkish war planes struck targets of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and in southeast Turkey overnight, in a new wave of air raids against the armed Kurdish group, deemed a terrorist organisation in Turkey, the prime minister's office said on Wednesday.

"Air operations were conducted throughout the night 28-29 July against the PKK terrorist group inside Turkey and outside," it said in a statement, listing six PKK locations in northern Iraq hit by the war planes.

It said shelters, depots, logistical bases and caves found to be used by the PKK were hit in the airstrikes.

The army has since Friday been carrying out daily airstrikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq, as well as Islamic State (IS) in Syria, in what the government calls a "war on terror" in response to a spate of attacks.

"The Turkish Republic will continue its rightful fight on legitimate grounds within the framework of national and international law, without succumbing to the threats of terrorist organisations," the statement added.

The prime minister's office added that a total number of 1,302 people had now been detained across the country in 39 provinces in raids against suspected members of IS, the PKK and other illegal groups.

The PKK, which is banned in Turkey and has long had a presence in Iraq, has several training camps in Dohuk, a province that also borders Kurdish areas of Syria.

The strikes appear to be in response to PKK attacks on Turkish security forces in the past few days in which three police were killed. The PKK said that it carried out the attacks in retaliation for Ankara's inaction over IS, blaming the Turkish authorities for not doing more to prevent a suicide attack in Suruc, southern Turkey, last week. More than 30 pro-Kurdish activists were killed and more than a 100 people injured in the attack, widely blamed on IS. 

The PKK had been engaged in a guerrilla war with the Turkish state which has claimed 40,000 lives and led to the destruction of thousands of Kurdish villages since 1984. 

While a peace process had been started in recent years and a truce agreed in 2013, with former prime minister and now President Erdogan coming closer to a deal than any previous leader, tensions over the rise of the IS group appear to have derailed progress.