- Title: TURKEY: Turkish warplanes bomb PKK in North Iraq - military
- Date: 23rd December 2007
- Summary: (W4) YUKSEKOVA, HAKKARI CITY AT IRAQI BORDER WITH TURKEY (DECEMBER 22, 2007) (REUTERS) TWO SOLDIERS MINE SEARCHING ALONG SNOWY ROAD VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS PATROLLING SOLDIERS SEARCHING THE AREA VARIOUS OF MILITARY VEHICLES SOLDIER ON MILITARY VEHICLE
- Embargoed: 7th January 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
- Reuters ID: LVADPYNQ7FTUU7BSBQ872KK3SKT3
- Story Text: Turkish warplanes bomb important Kurdish guerrilla targets in northern Iraq in a new cross-border offensive, the General Staff said.
The Turkish military said the offensive against outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas inside Turkey and across the border in northern Iraq on Saturday (December 22) would continue.
"Turkish Air Force warplanes struck important targets of the PKK/KONGRA-GEL terror group in northern Iraq ... between the hours of 14:25-15:00," the General Staff statement, posted on its website, said.
The military said Turkish warplanes returned safely to bases. It said it was too early to give any casualty figures.
Iraqi Kurdish security forces said they had suffered no casualties in the bombing.
Jabbar Yawer, spokesman for Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga security forces, said the aerial bombardment didn't result in any people being killed because the area is almost deserted for fear of aerial and mortar attacks from the Turkish side.
The Turkish military said its ground forces fired on the same targets a few hours later.
Turkey has stepped up its offensive against Kurdish guerrillas based in northern Iraq this month, launching two offensives, one involving 50 fighter jets and the other several hundred ground troops.
Turkey says it has a right to use force to combat separatist rebels who shelter in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq but the United States and the European Union fear a further escalation in tension could destabilise the region. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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