A Turkish interior ministry statement on Sunday said some 20 targets of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) group were “destroyed” in the aerial operation, including caves, shelters and depots.
The strikes came hours after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device near an entrance of the interior ministry building in Ankara, injuring two police officers. A second assailant was killed in a shootout with police.
A news agency close to the PKK said the group claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.
A statement from the ANF news agency said the PKK planned the bombing to coincide with the opening of the parliament. It said the attack was carried out by “a team of ours linked to our Immortals Battalion” group.
The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, the two attackers had seized the vehicle from a veterinarian in the central province of Kayseri, a city 260km (161 miles) southeast of Ankara.
“Thanks to the determination of our security forces. The moment the attackers got out of their vehicle, they started shooting at them. One of the terrorists detonated a suicide vest and the other was shot in the head without having an opportunity to detonate himself”, Ali Yerlikaya, Turkish Interior Minister said.
The suicide attack occurred hours before the Turkish parliament was set to reopen after its three-month summer recess with an address by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the blast was “the latest attempt” to inflict terror on the Turks.
“Those who threaten the peace and security of citizens have not achieved their goals and never will,” he said.
The PKK and ISIL (ISIS) have carried out such attacks in tourist areas and city centres of Turkey in the past.
The incident came almost a year after six people were killed and 81 wounded in an explosion in a busy pedestrian street in central Istanbul. Turkey blamed Kurdish fighters for that.
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