The Turkish army carried out an "intense intervention" against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq today, sending in special forces a day after the cabinet authorised a cross-border operation.
The action did not appear to be a long-awaited major operation by NATO member Turkey to destroy rebel bases. A military official said around 100 special forces were sent into northern Iraq to hit Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels.
The army also sent between four and six helicopters to bomb a camp used by the PKK. The NTV news channel said the army used helicopters and artillery in a cross-border operation for the first time in many years.
The military official said the special forces had returned to Turkish territory. Earlier, a spokesman for Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said there had been no incursion by Turkish troops into the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. The US military said it was unaware of any incursion.
The Turkish army said on its Web site that a group of 50 to 60 PKK rebels had been spotted inside Iraq's borders. "An intense intervention was made on the group and it was detected that the terrorist group had suffered heavy casualties," it said.
The army said it could step up its "intervention" in the region if this was needed. Turkey has amassed up to 100,000 troops near the mountainous border, backed up by tanks, artillery and warplanes, for a possible strike into mainly Kurdish northern Iraq.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday his cabinet had authorised the armed forces to conduct a cross-border operation against PKK rebels.
Turkey has amassed up to 100,000 troops near the mountainous border, backed up by tanks, artillery and warplanes, for a possible strike into mainly Kurdish northern Iraq against rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) hiding there.
Ankara has made many threats of military action but, under heavy US pressure, has so far shown restraint. Washington fears a large-scale operation could destabilise the most stable part of Iraq and possibly the wider region.
Turkey's parliament approved a resolution on October 17th giving the government the legal basis to order cross-border military operations if and when it deemed them necessary.
The resolution, approved by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers, followed a series of deadly PKK attacks on Turkish security forces that fanned an angry wave of nationalism across Turkey, a NATO member that also wants to join the EU.