Turkish military ramps up operations against PKK with a series of airstrikes in Duhok

Shafaq News/ Ankara stepped up its offensive against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq on Wednesday, launching a series of airstrikes that targeted multiple positions of the militant group.

The attacks, which targeted the strategic Matin mountain range and surrounding areas in the Dohuk governorate, come amid a surge in Turkish military operations against the PKK.

While there was no immediate information on casualties or the extent of damage, the strikes targeted areas close to the nearby villages of Blafa, Koherzi, and Riziki, small Kurdish mainly farming communities. 

The PKK, which is designated as a terrorist in the EU and the US, launched an insurgency against Ankara in 1984 with the initial aim of creating an independent Kurdish state. It subsequently adjusted its goals to seeking autonomy in southeast Turkiye. 

The PKK 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 was long fought mainly in rural areas of southeastern Turkiye but is now more focused on the mountains of northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

Ankara has conducted years of cross-border military operations against militants that have left roughly half the Syrian territory bordering Turkiye and all of Iraqi territory bordering Turkiye controlled or overseen by Turkiye's military.