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TURKEY

Military attacks rebel Kurds in Iraq

ISTANBUL — Turkey's military said yesterday it launched overnight air and artillery attacks against Kurdish separatist rebels in northern Iraq after an insurgent strike on a military base.

The raids in northern Iraq targeted members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who had escaped into Iraq from Turkey after attacking a police station Friday night with a force of between 150 and 200 rebels.

Two soldiers were killed in the initial PKK attack and four died later in ensuing clashes with the separatists.

The violence is part of a wider military operation, backed by attack helicopters, tanks and artillery, against the PKK in restive and mountainous southeast Turkey.

Sporadic fighting occurred yesterday along the Iraqi border of Hakkari province, military sources told Reuters news agency, adding that 20,000 troops had been deployed along the Turkish-Iraqi border with large convoys delivering arms and supplies.

Nearly 100,000 troops have been stationed in the country's southeast to fight against the PKK.

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