|
Turkish troops enter Iraq, kill four Kurdish rebels
Turkish soldiers on Wednesday crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish rebels for the first time in two years and bombed targets across the border, killing four militants, the army said.The cross-border operation came in response to an attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on border guards near the Iraqi frontier, the latest in a series of bloody assaults by the rebels. The attack on the base in the southeastern province of Sirnak at 1:00 a.m. (2200 GMT) triggered a clash lasting several hours in which a Turkish soldier was killed, the army said in a statement on its website. Turkish commandos and special forces then followed the rebels after they fled into northern Iraq "after their unsuccessful attack", it added. "Four terrorists were killed in clashes at the border and two to three kilometres" (1.2 to 1.8 miles) inside Iraqi territory, the army statement said. The Turkish soldiers "are still continuing a sweep of the region," it added. Turkish fighter jets also bombed a group of rebels as well as mortar and anti-aircraft gun positions detected deeper inside northern Iraq, successfully hitting the targets, the statement added. The NTV news channel reported that 600 to 800 soldiers were taking part in the ground incursion. The pro-Kurdish Firat news agency -- considered by Turkey to be a PKK mouthpiece -- said on its website that the rebels had confirmed a Turkish incursion of about two to three kilometres inside Iraq. The agency also cited the rebels as saying that the Turkish army had suffered heavy losses in the attack on the border guards, but did not give a figure. Ercan Citlioglu, an expert on terrorism and outlawed groups, said it appeared to be more of a short-term operation with the troops returning home after achieving their aims, rather than a large-scale lengthy incursion. But he told the NTV news channel it was a "message" to Iraqi Kurds to take measures against the PKK, and also to the rebels that they would face consequences from attacking Turkish targets. Posted by: tipper 2010-06-17 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=299102 |