Turkey's military confirms ground incursion; claims PKK suffered heavy losses

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Turkey's military said Tuesday it had inflicted heavy losses on a separatist Kurdish rebel group in airstrikes over the weekend and in a "small-scale" incursion by ground forces. In a statement posted on its Web site, the military confirmed that ground troops had crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish rebels. It said troops crossed "a few kilometers" into northern Iraq after spotting a group of rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, trying to infiltrate into Turkey overnight. "A heavy blow was inflicted on the group with the land forces stationed in the area," the military said. The military said it was not able to give the number of rebels who may have been killed during Sunday's airstrikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq, but maintained that "many facilities harboring the PKK were hit."