ANKARA 

Turkish fighter jets and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have pounded terrorist PKK targets in northern Iraq, killing 11 terrorists, the Turkish General Staff said Tuesday.

A statement said the counter-terrorism air raid hit targets in the Zap and Matina regions, destroying shelters, caves, bases, weapons, and machine gun emplacements.

The slain terrorists were preparing to attack Turkish security stations along the border, the statement said.

The air force has been conducting regular airstrikes on PKK facilities in both northern Iraq and Turkey since July 2015, when the terror group resumed its decades-old armed campaign.

Since it re-took up its terrorism campaign, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of some 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians, including a number of women and children.

*Reporting by Kemal Karadag; Writing by Sorwar Alam