By Xinhua
Ankara : Turkish jets took off from a military airport in southeastern province of Diyarbakir and headed to Turkish-Iraqi border on Friday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
The Turkish jets and helicopters are flying across the border on a reconnaissance mission, according to the report.
It added that Turkish troops have been deployed along Turkey’sborder with Iraq to prevent the militants of the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) from infiltrating Turkey.
Turkish General Staff said Friday Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) has launched a cross-border ground operation in fighting against the PKK in the north of Iraq.
“Long-range weapons and Turkish Air Forces jets pounded targets between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on February 21 in order to neutralize members of the PKK stationed in north of Iraq and to destroy organizational infrastructure in the region,” said a statement posted on the general staff website.
According the statement, TSK launched a cross-border ground operation into north of Iraq as of 1900 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Thursday following this successful artillery bombardment.
The ground operation is backed by Turkish Air Forces jets, the General Staff said.
“Turkish Armed Forces, which paid significant attention to Iraq’s territorial integrity and stability, will return to Turkey after it achieves the planned targets,” the General Staff said.