Turkey bombs PKK bases in Iraq

Ankara has launched several cross-border raids into Iraq to target PKK fighters [Reuters]

Turkish warplanes bombed bases of the fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in neighbouring northern Iraq late on Saturday, the Turkish army has said.   The "intensive" bombing in the Avasin-Basyan region targeted a group of Kurdistan Workers' Party militants, the statement on Sunday said.

The Turkish military said targets in Saturday's raids included an area just across the border where PKK fighters had allegedly gathered after attacking a military outpost in Turkey.   Six soldiers and 19 PKK fighters were killed in the fighting that followed that attack.

The military said the raids were "intense and effective" and care was taken not to harm the local Iraqi Kurdish population.   The air raid was backed by artillery fire, it said.   The PKK, has been fighting for self-rule in Turkey's southeast since 1984.

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