Turkish troops 'cross into Iraq'

A group of 300 Turkish troops crossed into Kurdish territory in northern Iraq overnight and moved two to three kilometres deeper…

A group of 300 Turkish troops crossed into Kurdish territory in northern Iraq overnight and moved two to three kilometres deeper into Iraq this morning, an Iraqi military source said.

The source said the Turkish troops were lightly armed and had moved into the Gali Rash area, a mountainous district near the border, and that there were no reports of clashes.

Turkey says it has a right to use military force to combat Kurdish separatist rebels based in northern Iraq. Turkish planes bombed villages in northern Iraq over the weekend.

Iraq complained that at least one civilian woman was killed in the weekend strikes, and has said it wants any future military action to be co-ordinated with Baghdad.

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The incursion comes as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Iraq on a visit. Washington, which has 155,000 troops in Iraq, said it was told of the weekend air raids in advance.