Wednesday 19 October 2011

Turkish troops enter northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish rebels

Turkish commandos supported by bombers and helicopter gunships have crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas who killed 26 soldiers and wounded at least 18 others in co-ordinated attacks on military outposts.
Fifteen militants from the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' party) were killed when Turkish troops advanced about two miles into Iraqi territory, in Turkey's first major ground offensive in the region since 2008.
"No one should forget that those who make us suffer this pain will be made to suffer even stronger," President Abdullah Gül said on Wednesday. "They will see that the vengeance for these attacks will be immense."
The PKK told the Associated Press that clashes were taking place in two separate areas close to the mountainous Iraqi-Turkish border.
"We have been clashing with the Turkish forces in two areas since around 3am today," said Dostdar Hamo.
The Turkish offensive came after about 100 PKK fighters launched simultaneous attacks on military outposts and police stations near the border towns of Çukurca and Yüksekova early on Wednesday.
It was the deadliest Kurdish attack in several years. A day earlier, five policemen and three civilians, including a two-year-old girl, were killed in a roadside bomb attack suspected to have been carried out by Kurdish rebels in nearby Bitlis province.
The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had cancelled a planned visit to Kazakhstan after the attacks, sources in his office said.
The attacks follow a visit by Gül to troops in the region to boost morale in an area that has seen increased violence in recent months.
Kurdish separatists have stepped up their attacks in south-eastern Turkey, killing more than 50 Turkish security personnel since July.
In response, Turkish forces launched a series of cross-border air strikes in August, killing about 100 PKK fighters.
Kurdish rebels took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have died in the conflict. They have bases in northern Iraq, from which they cross the border to attack Turkish targets.
Turkey, the US and the EU view the PKK as a terrorist group.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Nato secretary general, said: "On behalf of Nato, I condemn in the strongest possible terms the recent attacks in south-eastern Turkey, which killed and injured several Turkish soldiers, policemen and civilians, including a child."

taken from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/19/turkish-troops-iraq-kurdish-rebels

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