Ankara: Turkish warplanes have bombed Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq, the military said, just days after rebels killed 15 soldiers in an attack staged partly from Iraqi soil.

The planes on Saturday bombed rebel hideouts in Iraq s Avasin Basyan region and returned safely to their bases, the military said.

The military's deputy chief, meanwhile, accused leaders in northern Iraq of tolerating the rebels.

"We don't receive any kind of support from the local administration in the northern part of Iraq," Turkey's Gen Hasan Igsiz said yesterday. "Our expectation from them is to accept that the terrorist organisation is a terrorist organisation and eliminate the support provided to it."

Turkey is urging Iraqi Kurdish leaders to arrest the rebels and cut their supply lines, after rebels on Friday fired mortars and artillery from Iraqi soil onto a military outpost in a Turkish valley in Aktutun. The attack touched off the deadliest battle between Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels in eight months. Fifteen soldiers and at least 23 insurgents were killed, while another 20 soldiers were wounded and two were still missing, the military said.

"They did not die in vain, they did their duties and they succeeded," Igsiz said.

The Turkish general also said northern Iraqi leaders should block the rebels from using local roads and hospitals.

The Turkish military says it needs Iraqi help to halt the rebel infiltration from bases across the long and mountainous border. It says its surveillance capabilities in Iraq are limited, and that the rugged terrain made it difficult to defend positions.

Iraq's national government has pledged to cooperate with Turkey.
Source : PTI