Turkey starts incursion against terrorists

PKK kills 24 troops, Turkey starts incursion against terrorists

Turkey on Wednesday launched an air and ground offensive into Iraq after members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) killed 24 security personnel in one of the deadliest attacks on Turkish security forces in years.

Turkish troops killed 21 terrorists in clashes in southeastern Turkey near the Iraqi border on Wednesday, security sources said. At least 100 PKK terrorists were believed to have taken part in the attacks, which targeted eight locations. Turkish commandos reportedly crossed the border into northern Iraq in pursuit of the terrorists after the attack, which occurred in the early morning hours of Wednesday. There were reportedly intermittent clashes between the troops, who advanced some three to four kilometers into Iraqi territory and the PKK terrorists in the border area near Çukurca in Hakkari province. PKK members have been using Iraq as a launching pad for attacks on Turkish targets in a war for autonomy in Turkey's Southeast. The private Cihan news agency says Turkish warplanes that took off from Diyarbakır are striking PKK bases in northern Iraq. Turkey's Parliament recently passed a bill extending permission, as it has done several times since 2007, for the Turkish military to mount cross-border operations against members of the PKK in northern Iraq in the coming year. Turkish air and artillery operations against suspected PKK members in the Kandil Mountains have intensified since August. The strikes were ordered after a break of more than a year in retaliation for an increase in PKK attacks on security forces inside Turkey. In the early morning hours of Wednesday terrorists attacked several military and police buildings in Çukurca and Hakkari's city center. Twenty-four soldiers and police officers were killed. Another 18 soldiers were wounded when the terrorists opened fire on military outposts in Çukurca and Yüksekova near the border with Iraq. The attacks occurred simultaneously. It was the deadliest PKK attack in 18 years. It was the fourth deadliest attack since the PKK started its campaign of separatist violence nearly three decades ago. The attacks come only a day after five policemen and four civilians, including a 2-year-old and a 10-year-old, were killed by a roadside bomb planted by the PKK in nearby Bitlis province. Wednesday’s attacks also come only days after Turkish President Abdullah Gül visited troops in the region to boost morale in an area that has seen increased violence in recent months.