Report: Turkish Jets Hit Kurdish Rebel Targets in Northern Iraq

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq on Wednesday, a Kurdish news agency reported.

The Firat news agency said jets hit the Hakurk region of northern Iraq for 45 minutes. The area is where the borders of Iraq, Turkey and Iran meet and where the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party maintain a major camp.

Firat, quoting Kurdish party officials, said the rebels "responded" to the airstrikes, but gave no details. There were no casualties, the agency said.

Earlier, Turkey's private Dogan news agency, quoting Iraqi Kurds, said four Turkish warplanes were involved in the attack.

Turkey's military did not immediately confirm the report.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule in Turkey's southeast since 1984. The fighting has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The group launches attacks on Turkey from bases in northern Iraq.

The Turkish military has periodically bombed and shelled suspected rebel positions there in the past few months. In February, it launched an eight-day ground incursion to hit rebel bases in Iraq.

The United States, which lists the Kurdistan Workers' Party as a terrorist group, has been sharing intelligence about the rebels with Turkey.

Last week, Turkish warplanes hit a group of Kurdish rebels reportedly trying to infiltrate Turkey from the Avasin-Basyan region of northern Iraq, the military said. There was no information about casualties.