Turkish air strike kills at least three PKK-linked militants in northern Iraq

Group has training camps and bases and some local support in autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan

PKK fighters at a camp in the mountains of northern Iraq. Reuters

A Turkish air strike hit the headquarters of an armed group in northern Iraq on Tuesday, killing at least three militants, said the regional government.

The Counter-Terrorism Unit of Iraq’s Kurdistan region said the strike at 5am hit the Asayish Ezidkhan and the Shingal Resistance Units, known as Yabsha, in Jamo, near Sinjar.

Yabsha is the local branch of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the PKK.

The PKK has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, initially seeking an independent Kurdish state before changing its demands and seeking an autonomous Kurdish region within Turkey. The conflict has killed about 40,000 people, many of them civilians.

It has training camps and bases in autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan and is designated a terrorist group by the US and EU.

Ankara's military operations against PKK fighters in Iraq and Syria, have led to casualties not only among the fighters, but also civilians.

Iraqi Kurdistan has complicated relations with the PKK because its presence in the region impedes trade relations with neighbouring Turkey.