The Counter-Terrorism Service in the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq announced today (Thursday) that ten PKK members were killed and three others were wounded in Turkish air strikes in northern Iraq.

The agency said in a statement, "Successive bombings on Wednesday/Thursday night by Turkish army warplanes and drones targeted the positions of Kurdistan Workers' Party militants in the Sidkan district of Erbil Governorate, killing nine militants from the party."

The statement added, "Last night, Turkish warplanes and drones also attacked several sites of Kurdistan Workers' Party members in the towns of Shiladzi and Dirluk in the Amadiya district of Dohuk Governorate, which led to the killing of one of the party's members and the wounding of three others."

From time to time, Turkey launches artillery and air attacks and ground incursions on sites belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which opposes Ankara, inside Iraqi territory in the mountainous areas of northern Iraq adjacent to the Turkish border.

Iraq has always rejected Turkish military operations, and demands that they stop and that Iraq's sovereignty and independence be respected.

Turkey and the United States classify the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has bases in northern Iraq, as a "terrorist organization."