Artillery fire directed at 85 targets ANKARA—Turkish warplanes backed by heavy artillery struck Kurdish fighters targets in northern Iraq overnight, the military said Saturday, a third consecutive night of raids. The Turkish air strikes are the first against rebels in the mountains of northern Iraq in more than a year and mark a stark escalation of the 27-year-old conflict after the collapse of efforts to find a negotiated settlement. The raids also follow an increase in attacks by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in southeastern Turkey that have killed some 40 Turkish security personnel in just over a month. Turkey's General Staff said fighter planes had hit 20 rebel targets in Qandil mountain, Sinath-Haftanin, Hakurk and Gara in northern Iraq, adding the planes had returned safely. “In coordination with the air operation, intense artillery fire was directed at 85 targets in Zap, Avasin-Basyan and Hakurk,” it said in a statement on its website. Reconnaissance flights were continuing in the area to assess the damage and to determine whether there were any casualties. Late on Friday, a Reuters witness said at least 10 warplanes had taken off from an air base in southeastern Turkey. The military released black and white cockpit footage showing blasts and billowing smoke as laser-guided missiles slammed into targets described as PKK shelters, stores and a bridge. The air strikes and artillery assaults began Wednesday night in what appeared to be retaliation for an attack in southeastern Turkey hours earlier by PKK fighters that killed nine Turkish service members. Hours before Wednesday's raids began Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the government's patience with Kurdish separatists had “finally run out” and said those involved in militant activities would “pay the price”. The military said after the initial raids that operations would continue until the PKK was “rendered ineffective”.
