TURKEY has been accused of using chemical weapons in Iraqi Kurdistan once more as fierce resistance by Kurdish guerilla fighters continues in the mountainous border area.

According to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) sources, banned munitions and explosives were used on underground positions in the Sikefta Bindera region of the Zap mountains.

Fighter jets launched at least 15 air strikes over the weekend targeting PKK positions in the Zap, Gare, Metina and Avasin mountain ranges, known collectively as the Medya Defence Zones. 

The PKK said in a statement that at least eight Turkish soldiers had been killed in guerilla counter-offensive operations.

Chemical weapons were used by Turkey on at least five occasions, the Kurdish resistance movement said. 

PKK commander Cemil Bayik accused Nato of endorsing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “genocidal attacks” on the Kurdish people at the recent Nato summit in Madrid. 

Speaking in an interview with the Firat News Agency over the weekend, he said that the military alliance had supported Turkey “since the establishment of our movement.”

“The Turkish state is committing massacres, genocides…it uses chemical weapons…it changes demographics but no-one is making a sound,” the Kurdish leader said. 

“If Nato had not accepted it, the Turkish state would not have the power to do these things.”

Mr Bayik said the conflict in Ukraine was due to a crisis in the capitalist system with both Nato and the US seeking to weaken Russia. 

“They want to prevent China too,” he said. “The US and capitalist system see China’s development as a danger to their interests. They want to prevent this.”

According to Mr Bayik, Turkey’s war in Iraqi Kurdistan has intensified in recent months as Western powers seek control of the region’s oil as an alternative to Russian supplies. 

Kurdistan regional Prime Minister Masrour Barzani visted his British counterpart Boris Johnson in April when they discussed bilateral trade deals, including the supply of oil. 

Turkey launched its invasion and occupation of Iraqi Kurdistan in April 2021. A year later its military offensive expanded under Operation Claw Lock. 

Ankara has consistently been accused of using chemical weapons against PKK guerilla fighters and Kurdish villagers. 

The Morning Star remains the only Western media organisation to have accessed the region and has spoken to many of the victims along with medics, local politicians and security officials. 

A report documenting the alleged use of chemical weapons and collusion of regional and global institutions was released last month. 

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has continued to ignore appeals from Kurdish organisations and European parliamentarians to send a fact-finding team to the region.