Turkish jets strike PKK targets in northern Iraq stronghold

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey's military says its warplanes have struck 12 Kurdish rebel targets in cross-border raids in northern Iraq, where it is broadening its operations and vowing to destroy a stronghold of the fighters.

The military says Tuesday that jets overnight hit shelters, weapon positions and ammunition depots used by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq's Hakurk, Avasin-Basyan and Qandil regions.

The Qandil mountain region is where senior PKK leadership is believed to maintain headquarters.

Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli says Ankara has reinforced its military bases in northern Iraq and will remain in the region until the PKK ceases to be threat to Turkey.

Canikli denied that Turkey's operations against Qandil were aimed at stoking nationalist sentiment ahead of the country's June 24 elections.