DIYARBAKIR: At least 26 Kurdish rebels and a Turkish soldier have been killed in Ankara’s latest operation against Kurdish separatists in the country’s southeast, Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.
Local security officials earlier said 18 rebels and a Turkish soldier had died.
Thousands of ground troops, police forces and village guards participated in the operation, which was launched late Wednesday in the mountainous area in the Sirnak province near the Iraqi border.
Helicopter gunships, F-16 fighter jets and ground troops targeted rebel hideouts in the region, the stronghold of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and sources said jets also bombed rebel bases inside Iraq just across the border.
Ankara launched the offensive after a spike in deadly Kurdish rebel attacks that have claimed dozens of lives in recent months across Turkey.
26 Kurdish rebels die in Turkish operation
