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| Iraq |
| 25 PKK rebels killed in airstrikes in Iraq |
| 2008-10-25 |
| (Xinhua) -- Turkey's military said on Friday 25rebels of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) were killed in cross-border airstrikes on their hideouts in northern Iraq last week. Acting on intelligence services, 25 PKK rebels were killed in the air raid on Oct. 17, when Turkish fighters bombed the PKK dens in northern Iraq's Qandil region, Turkish army spokesman Gen. Metin Gurak said at a press conference. Gurak said without elaborating that quite a few rebels were also wounded in the attack. On Oct. 3, at least 17 Turkish soldiers were killed when PKK militants based in northern Iraq attacked Aktutun Gendarmerie Border Unit in Semdinli town in the province of Hakkari. About 23 PKK militants were killed in the clashes. The tension is mounting after the deadliest attack in the year and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the military have pledged to intensify a campaign to crush the PKK, which was blacklisted by Ankara and the United States as a terrorist group. The Turkish forces take tougher actions against the PKK after the country's legislature extended on Oct. 8 the government's mandate to launch cross-border operations against the rebels in northern Iraq. Thirty-five rebels were killed on Oct. 14, when government troops attacked a group of PKK militants who were allegedly trying to infiltrate into Turkey from northern Iraq. |
| Posted by:Fred |