Masked assailants with grenades and automatic weapons attacked a wedding ceremony in southeast Turkey, killing 45 people and wounding six others.

Two separatist Kurdish rebels were killed when a fuel tanker they were planning to ram into a military outpost in a suicide attack exploded before they could approach, officials said today.

Kurdish rebels fired rockets and grenades at a Turkish military outpost, killing seven soldiers.

US-LED forces carried out massive air strikes around Iraq’s northern oil capital of Kirkuk last night, as pro-US Kurdish forces here signalled a new front against Saddam Hussein could soon be opened.

The Turkish military on Sunday began moving troops in western Turkey to its border with Iraq, strengthened its security force along the rugged border area ahead of a possible US war against Iraq.

Two military planes have collided and crashed in southeast Turkey.

US and British warplanes bombed air defence systems in northern Iraq today in response to anti-aircraft fire within the no-fly zone.