Turkey: Kurds kill 24 soldiers, retaliatory offensive underway

Turkey said on Wednesday that Kurdish rebels killed 24 soldiers and wounded 18 others in multiple attacks along the border, prompting air and ground retaliatory attacks on Kurdish militants in Iraq. The Interior Ministry earlier had said 24 soldiers were killed and 18 others were wounded IRNA reporter in Ankara said that it was the deadliest Kurdish rebel attack since 1992. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said at a televised news conference that 24 soldiers were killed and 18 others were injured. Erdogan canceled a foreign trip had been about to start and convened an emergency meeting with the interior and defense ministers, along with intelligence chiefs and top generals. The foreign minister also canceled a planned visit abroad. Turkey asked Iraq last week to move against rebel bases in northern Iraq, saying 'its 'patience is running out' in the face of rebel attacks directed at Turkey from Iraqi soil. 'No one should forget that those who make us suffer this pain will be made to suffer even stronger,' President Abdullah Gul told reporters Wednesday. 'They will see that the vengeance for these attacks will be immense and many times stronger.'