Turkish jets strike PKK positions Duhok with unprecedented airstrike, igniting fires

Shafaq News/ On Monday, eyewitnesses in Duhok of the Kurdistan Region (KRI) reported that Turkish fighter jets bombed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in an area of the governorate that had never been targeted before.

The witnesses told Shafaq News Agency, "This afternoon, Turkish aircraft launched an airstrike on PKK sites on Best Steer mountain, overlooking the Bisfaki village in Mangesh district, north of Duhok Governorate."

"The bombing ignited widespread fires in the village's forests and farms."

The PKK, which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, is designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

The conflict between Turkiye and the PKK, which began in the early 1980s with the PKK's push for an independent Kurdish state, has seen significant escalation over the decades.

The PKK engaged in guerrilla warfare while Turkiye launched large-scale operations against them, especially in southeastern Turkiye and northern Iraq.

Efforts at peace, including a 2013 process, collapsed in 2015, leading to renewed fighting.