Turks retaliate against Kurdish attack on army post

Eight Turkish soldiers were killed overnight in an attack on an army post by Kurdish rebels in southeast Turkey, near the border with Iraq, the army said. The attack, blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) took place at a military post near the city of Semdinli close to the Iraqi border, also left 14 soldiers wounded, the army said in an online statement. The military responded with helicopters and reportedly killed 12 rebels, the army statement added.

Fighter jets then launched a bombing raid targeting PKK rebel positions in northern Iraq where the separatists have rear bases, the military said. On Friday the Turkish military announced that at least 130 members of the PKK had been killed inside Turkey and in an air raid on rebel hideouts in Iraq since violence flared anew in March. The military had lost 43 personnel. The military also said it expected the PKK to further intensify and spread its attacks.

*AFP