The Turkish military said Friday that 124 members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) have fled the terrorist organization after Turkish warplanes and artillery pounded its bases in northern Iraq in recent weeks.
Gen. Metin Gurak, Chairman of the Communication Department of the General Staff, gave the figure to reporters at a press briefing in the Turkish capital of Ankara.
The PKK has suffered heavy losses in cross-border air operations and artillery fire on Oct. 2-19 and in relation to these losses, 124 rebels have fled the PKK, Gurak noted, adding the military was trying to confirm losses suffered by the PKK rebels in these operations.
Tension is mounting since the PKK deadly attack on Oct. 3 when the militant group killed 17 Turkish soldiers.
The Turkish forces take tougher actions against the PKK after the country's legislature extended on Oct. 8 the government's mandate to launch cross-border operations against the rebels in northern Iraq.
The PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Some 40,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.
Source:Xinhua
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