Agence France-Presse,
ANKARA: Turkish warplanes bombed Tuesday Kurdish rebel positions in neighbouring northern Iraq, the army said.
The jets, backed by artillery fire, pounded “effectively” Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hideouts in the regions of Hakurk and Avashin-Basyan as well as Zap, a major rebel stronghold, the statement said.
“The targets were hit successfully,” it said, without mentioning any casualties among PKK ranks.
The army has stepped up operations against the PKK — both inside Turkey and in northern Iraq — since October 3 when militants crossing from camps across the frontier attacked a Turkish border outpost, killing 17 soldiers.
The previous cross-border air strike targeting PKK hideouts in the Qandil mountains was on October 17, in which at least 25 militants were killed, according to the army.
Earlier this month, Turkey's parliament extended by one year the government's mandate to order cross-border military action against the PKK in northern Iraq, which has been in effect since October 17, 2007.
The United States has helped its NATO ally by providing intelligence on PKK movements inside Iraq.
Turkish officials estimate about 2,000 PKK rebels are holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq, where they allegedly enjoy free movement and obtain weapons and explosives for attacks in Turkey.
Ankara has often accused the Iraqi Kurds, who run an autonomous administration in the region, of tolerating and even aiding the PKK, but has said it will still pursue dialogue with them to resolve the problem.
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said last week that Ankara was considering a proposal by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani for three-way talks with Baghdad and Washington to outline fresh measures to purge the PKK bases in northern Iraq.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 44,000 lives.
