TURKEY has been accused of using chemical weapons more than 70 times on guerilla positions this week as its war on Iraqi Kurdistan intensifies. 

The banned munitions are said to have been used to strike bases held by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the Avashin, Metina and Zap mountain ranges, known collectively as the Medya Defence Zones. 

Officials from the Kurdish resistance group said by using the  chemical weapons Turkey was committing war crimes and warned against downplaying their use.

“Our forces in the resistance areas practice tactical richness with the fighting of mobile guerilla units and in war positions and tunnels. 

“They are putting a spoke in the occupiers’ wheel and have the initiative in their hands,” the PKK said in a statement. 

“The Turkish occupation forces are in a difficult situation and are continuously using chemical weapons on a massive scale against the guerrillas’ positions and tunnels. 

“The use of chemical weapons by the Turkish army dozens of times a day is not an ordinary attack and should not be considered by anyone as a normal state of affairs. It is a war crime,” officials said. 

According to the Kurdish resistance organisation chemical weapons were used 44 times in just one day. It said that three drones were shot down by PKK fighters during Tuesday’s attack. 

Turkey launched Operation Claw Lock last month, escalating its war on Iraqi Kurdistan which started in April last year. 

PKK commander Cemil Bayik has said the renewed military offensive has intensified due to the war in Ukraine and the desire for European countries to end reliance on Russian oil.

A pipeline which is earmarked for increasing supplies to European markets via Turkey runs through Kurdistan giving imperialist countries an added impetus to crush the PKK and the Kurdish people he says. 

Last month Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Masrour Barzani met his British counterpart Boris Johnson in London where they discussed bilateral trade deals including the supply of oil. 

Turkish jets and howitzers continued to pummel Kurdish villages this week while ground troops were stopped by PKK fighters as they tried to advance in the Sikefta Birindara resistance zone. 

Chemical weapons were allegedly used by Turkish forces 27 times in the Sehid Sahin resistance area and at Gire Cehennem in the Ciyares resistance area.

World powers have remained silent despite the ongoing atrocities, with Turkey accused of a string of war crimes including the bombing of hospitals and a UN-administered refugee camp.