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Turkish Air Strikes Target Kurdish Rebels

Posted Dec 16, 07 8:10 AM CST in World 

(Newser) – Turkey launched its first air strike since 2003 on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq early this morning, targeting a mountainous region near the Turkish border where the government says the PKK has its leadership council and camps. About 50 warplanes were used in the offensive, the AP reports, which lasted just over three hours.

Turkey insists rebels, not civilians, were the target, but an Iraqi official said the strikes hit far from rebel bases, killing one woman and wounding others in villages. Last month, President Bush promised to share US intel with Turkey about the PKK, declaring it a “common enemy.”

Source Associated Press

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Two Turkish soldiers patrol in an army vehicle on a road in the southeastern Turkish province of Sirnak, bordering Iraq, Thursday Nov. 8, 2007. A rebel Kurdish group in northern Iraq "must be eliminated,"...   (Associated Press)
Turkish Air Force fighters fly over a national flag during a ceremony on the Victory Day in Ankara, Turkey, in this Aug. 30, 2007 file photo. Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq...   (Associated Press)
Turkish Air Force fighters fly over a national flag during a ceremony on the Victory Day in Ankara, Turkey, in this Aug. 30, 2007 file photo. Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq...   (Associated Press)
Women hold a photo showing Abdullah Ocalan and a sign reading "Free Ocalan" as some thousands of Kurds march in downtown Dusseldorf, western Germany, Saturday Dec. 15, 2007, protesting against the invasion...   (Associated Press)
A Kurdish demonstrator holds a placard of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan during a protest against Turkish action on the Turkey-Iraq border against the PKK, in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia, Monday,...   (Associated Press)
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the lawmakers of his ruling party in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007. Erdogan praised the military offensive against the Kurdish rebels, calling...   (Associated Press)
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Iraq • Turkey • airstrike • PKK • Recep Tayyip Erdogan • Kurdistan Workers' Party • US intelligence • Kurdish guerrillas



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