Turkish warplanes, troops chase Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq

Turkish warplanes and commando units crossed the border in northern Iraq to chase Kurdish rebels following attacks by outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) that killed 24 Turkish soldiers early on Wednesday in southeastern Turkey, Iraqi official television reported. "Turkish warplanes pounding PKK bases in northern Iraq, while commandos units crossed to the Iraqi border areas to chase Kurdish rebels," the state-run television of Iraqia said. The Iraqi channel quoted a Kurdish security source in Iraq's northern province of Erbil as saying that the Turkish warplanes pounded targets in Sidkan border area and Qandil Mountain without giving details about casualties. The Turkish troops entered northern Iraq from two points to chase the Kurdish rebels, it added. Earlier in the day, reports from Turkey said that PKK rebels attacked several military and police buildings and killed 24 soldiers and police officers in several locations in the predominately Kurdish Hakkari province near the Iraqi border. Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. More than 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the PKK during the past over two decades.