Turkish army says 100 rebels killed in air raids on Iraq

AFP , Tuesday 23 Aug 2011

Turkish air forces attack northern Iraq, killing between 90 and 100 Kurdish rebels and injuring another 80

Turkish air attacks on northern Iraq have killed between 90 and 100 Kurdish rebels and injured another 80, the army said on its website on Tuesday.

The toll was the first issued by the army since it resumed a bombing campaign against bases of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Iraqi mountains last Wednesday after a lull of more than a year.

The renewed campaign was in response to a PKK attack that killed nine security personnel in southeast Turkey.

The army statement, which used the word "neutralised" to refer to dead rebels, stressed that the toll was provisional.

It specified that 14 installations, eight depots of foodstuffs, one of munitions, nine anti-aircraft guns, 18 caves and 79 ammunition caches were hit during its operations.

The army estimates that around 2,000 Kurdish rebels are holed up in the zone in northern Iraq which is administered by Iraqi Kurds.

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