The Turkish Defense Ministry announced the killing of 17 PKK militants in airstrikes carried out by Turkish warplanes in northern Iraq on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Turkish Defense Ministry stated in a statement today, Saturday, that units of the Turkish army stationed in the Kara, Hakurk and Qandil regions in northern Iraq monitored gatherings of PKK militants in rugged mountainous areas, which required the use of warplanes. Their raids on those areas resulted in the killing of 17 of them and the withdrawal of the others. The Turkish Defense Ministry clarified in its statement that eight of the organization's militants were killed in the Kara region, 4 in the Hakurk region and 5 in the Qandil region during those airstrikes. In its statement, it indicated that the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has its stronghold in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq, and is active in many cities, regions and valleys, launching attacks on the Turkish interior from there, and that the Turkish army is working hard to dry up the sources of terrorism. Source: National Iraqi News Agency