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Turkey Claims Troops Kill Kurdish Rebels In 15-Hour Offensive

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By ELENA BECATOROS, The Associated Press

Published: December 19, 2007

BAGHDAD - Turkey sent hundreds of troops across the border into the frigid mountains of northern Iraq on Tuesday, claiming it inflicted heavy losses on Turkish Kurd rebels in the small-scale incursion and from air strikes two days earlier.

The offensive puts more pressure on Washington to mediate between Iraq and Turkey, two key allies in an unstable region. In a sign of increasing tension, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported that more than 1,800 people fled their homes in parts of Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdistan last weekend.

In November, the Turkish military reportedly massed 100,000 troops along the border, and there are fears that a major Turkish offensive could cause civilian casualties and lead to conflict with the peshmerga, the fierce Kurdish regional militia.

The rebels, known as the Kurdistan People's Party, or PKK, have battled for autonomy for southeastern Turkey for more than two decades and use strongholds in northern Iraq for cross-border strikes. Turkey has said it can no longer tolerate the attacks on its troops, and in October Turkey's parliament authorized the country's military to strike back at the rebels inside Iraq.

The latest operation involving about 300 soldiers began about 3 a.m. and lasted 15 hours before the soldiers returned to Turkey, Iraqi Kurd officials said.

In its statement, the Turkish military said ground forces based close to the border crossed "a few kilometers" into northern Iraq after spotting a group of rebels trying to infiltrate into Turkey overnight.

"A heavy blow was inflicted on the group with the land forces stationed in the area," it said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking during a visit to Iraq on Tuesday, suggested that Iraqi, Turkish and U.S. authorities should work together against the rebels.

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