Turkish air strikes target Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq

Shafaq News / The Turkish defence ministry said early on Sunday it carried out air strikes on Kurdish militant bases in northern Syria and northern Iraq, which it said were used to carry out attacks on Turkey.

The strikes targeted bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish YPG forces, which Turkey says is a wing of the PKK, the ministry added in a statement.

More than 50 aircraft and 20 pilots participated in the operation, according to AHarb Turkish Channel.

Turkey said on Tuesday it plans to pursue targets in northern Syria after it completes a cross-border operation against the PKK in Iraq, following a deadly bomb last weekend in Istanbul.

The government has blamed Kurdish militants for the blast on Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue on Nov. 13 that killed six people and injured more than 80. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast on the busy pedestrian avenue, and the PKK and SDF have denied involvement.

Turkey has conducted three incursions so far into northern Syria against the YPG. President Tayyip Erdogan has previously said Turkey could conduct another operation against the YPG.