![Kurdish PKK marching with their flags [KurdishstruggleWikipedia]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2015_09_15-Kurdish-PKK-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) said it had shot down a Turkish helicopter on the border of Iraqi Kurdistan on Sunday in retaliation for the death of one of its commanders last week.
According to the Media Centre of the Kurdistan People’s Defense Forces (HPG), the group launched a military operation on Sunday in which it targeted a helicopter near Jarjla Square in the Zagros region, and managed a direct hit, which resulted in an aircraft being downed.
“Ten minutes after the shooting-down of the first helicopter, our forces hit another one … forcing it to flee,” the group continued.
The Turkish Ministry of Defence has yet to comment on the claim.
The PKK is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Some 40,000 people have been killed in the fight between Turkish forces and the PKK, which is seeking the foundation of an independent communist Kurdistan.
READ: Turkish soldier killed after coming under fire from across border with Iran