ANKARA 

Turkish airstrikes “neutralized” 10 PKK terrorists in northern Iraq on Saturday, the army said.

The Turkish Air Forces conducted airstrikes against PKK terrorist group targets, neutralizing 10 terrorists in northern Iraq, according to a statement emailed by the Turkish General Staff.

The air operation was carried out in the Avashin Basyan region, destroying four artillery PKK positions in the area, it added.

The operation came just after three soldiers were martyred and five others injured in a PKK attack in the southeastern Turkish province of Hakkari on Saturday afternoon.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU – resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.

Since then, more than 700 security force members have been martyred and around 8,000 PKK terrorists killed or apprehended.