By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Turkish warplanes, helicopters and artillery bombed suspected hideouts of Kurdish rebels in remote, mountainous terrain of northern Iraq.
The Turkish military said at least 35 Kurdish rebels and two Turkish soldiers died in fighting Saturday. A total of seven soldiers and at least 79 rebels have been killed in Iraq since Turkey launched a ground incursion late Thursday, according to the military. The rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, claimed it had killed 15 Turkish troops.
The incursion is the first confirmed Turkish military ground operation in Iraq since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Iraq's government criticized the offensive on Saturday, saying military force will not solve the Kurdish problem.
"We know the threats that Turkey is facing but military operations will not solve the PKK problem. Turkey has resorted to military options, but this never resulted in a good thing," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.
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