Turkish jets bomb Kurdish rebel targets in north Iraq

TURKISH jet fighters bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq early yesterday, Turkey’s military said, marking an escalation of force against the outlawed separatist group. An Iraqi official said the planes attacked several villages, killing one woman.

The nighttime offensive was the first confirmed time since the US-led invasion that Turkish war planes have been used in Iraqi territory. Turkey has previously attacked the area with ground-based artillery and helicopters.

The fighter jets hit rebel positions close to the border with Turkey and the Qandil mountain, which straddles the Iraq-Iran border and is 60 miles from the frontier between Iraq and Turkey, the military said. It said the operation was directed against the rebels and not against the local population.