The commandos are being supported by attack helicopters, drones and aircraft, Turkey Defense Ministry said in a statement on Twitter on Wednesday.

“Operation Claw-Tiger is being carried out as part of our legitimate defense rights arising from international law against the PKK and other terrorist elements that have recently attempted to increase harassment and attacks on our police station and base areas," Ahval news agency quoted the ministry as saying in the statement.

Turkey had begun hitting suspected positions of the PKK prior to sending in the ground forces, according to a statement on Monday. Jet fighters hit bases and destroyed caves where the PKK was hiding out, it said.

The PKK, which has battled for political autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds for four decades at the cost of almost 40,000 lives, is labelled as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Turkey said it was carrying out the operation against PKK bases in Sinjar, Qandil, Karacak, Zap, Avasin-Basyan and Hakurk. Artillery was also bombarding PKK positions, it said.

The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed a crackdown against political representatives of the Kurds following local elections last year, sacking and arresting mayors of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and lifting the immunity of some of its parliamentary deputies. It has charged the politicians with connections to the PKK, charges which they deny.

Erdogan’s government is backed by the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), which has long called for the eradication of Kurdish nationalist movements.

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command on Monday, June 15, condemned Turkish airstrikes in the Kurdistan Region and northern Iraq overnight, calling the attack a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

The command said in a tweet posted to the official Twitter account of the Security Media Cell that “we deplore the penetration of Iraqi airspace by the Turkish planes,” adding that Turkish forces penetrated 193 kilometers into Iraqi airspace and targeted displacement camps near Makhmour and Sinjar.

According to NRT it continued “this provocative behavior is not in line with the obligations of a good neighbor in accordance with international agreements and is a flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty.”

“Therefore, these violations must be stopped with respect and commitment to the common interests between the two countries. We call for them not to occur again.”

In the early hours of Monday, Turkish warplanes struck multiple targets, including on Mount Sinjar and in Qandil and Makhmour, in what it called “Operation Claw-Eagle.”

The pro-PKK Firat news agency said the strikes had targeted a UN-assisted refugee camp in Makhmour lying 50 kilometers southwest of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) that is home to more than 10,000 ethnic Kurds fleeing violence in Turkey since the 1990s. PKK-affiliated militias are stationed nearby.

Reporter’s code: 50101