Ankara: Turkish warplanes bombed today a Kurdish rebel hideout in neighbouring Iraq where senior militants were believed to be, the army said.
It was the seventh Turkish air strike in northern Iraq since October 3 when Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants crossing from their bases in the region attacked a Turkish border outpost, killing 17 soldiers.
The jets this evening struck a hideout in the mountainous Zap region, a major rebel stronghold, where "a PKK group which included high-level members" was determined to be, the army said in a statement. It did not specify any casualties from the raid.
The Turkish parliament on Wednesday extended by one year the government's mandate to order cross-border military operations in northern Iraq against the PKK, which has long enjoyed safe haven in the region.
Just as the lawmakers voted, a police bus was machine-gunned in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the predominately Kurdish southeast, claiming five lives.
The PKK claimed responsibility today for the attack, saying in a statement on its website that it was a "successful action" by its militants.
The police have detained nine people in connection with the incident, among them three alleged PKK militants believed to have taken part in the attack. Yesterday, officials said a probable suicide attack was foiled after the police arrested an alleged Kurdish militant carrying explosives in downtown Istanbul, Turkey's largest city.
