Minesweeping on border, fighter jets landing
(26 Dec 2007) Cizre 1. Various of Turkish military walking in Cizre in the Sirnsk Province, south eastern Turkey, during a mine-sweeping operation 2. Helicopter flying overhead, pull-out to military mine-sweeping 3. Helicopter flying overhead 4. Close-up of wheels of armoured truck with soldier walking and holding rifle in background 5. Mid of armoured truck driving by 6. Wide of military walking 7. Various of helicopters flying overhead, mountains in background 8. Various of military and armoured trucks on the road Diyarbakir 9. Various of Diyarbakir airbase 10. Wide of F16 plane landing 11. Wide of airbase with radar in operation 12. Wide of two F16 planes landing 13. Wide of F16 taxiing 14. Wide of two F16s landing 15. Wide of F16 on tarmac STORYLINE: Turkish warplanes on Wednesday hit eight suspected Kurdish rebel hideouts in northern Iraq, Turkey's military said. The warplanes struck in an "effective pinpoint operation" targeting eight caves and other hideouts being used by rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, the military said in a statement posted on its Web site. AP Television pictures filmed on Wednesday morning showed Turkish military walking near Cizre in the Sirnak Province, south-eastern Turkey, during a mine-sweeping operation and F16 military planes landing at Diyarbakir airbase, also in south-eastern Turkey. The military launched the operation after spotting a group of rebels preparing to spend the winter in those hideouts, it said. No rebel deaths were immediately reported. The military said the hideouts were located in the Zap region, near Iraq's border with Turkey. The statement also said that the military was determined to continue its operations against the rebels. Wednesday's strikes were the third confirmed aerial operation against the rebels since December 16. The military also has confirmed that it sent ground troops to hunt down the rebels on December 18. Turkey's military claimed on Tuesday that more than 200 Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq have been hit since December 16, killing hundreds of rebels. However, a pro-Kurdish news agency said the PKK lost only five members. Other hideouts and anti-aircraft weapons were struck in a cross-border air assault on December 22, followed by artillery fire from within Turkey. Iraqi officials have said the December 16 operation - the first confirmed by Turkey since the US-led invasion in 2003 - violated Iraqi sovereignty and killed civilians. Massoud Barzani, Kurdish regional president in northern Iraq, said on Monday civilians have been killed in Turkish attacks, which he called unacceptable. A Turkish government's spokesman, said allegations that civilians were killed in Turkish raids were inaccurate. The PKK have waged a war for autonomy in parts of Turkey near Syria, Iraq and Iran since 1984. The fighting has cost tens of thousands of lives. The US, the European Union and Turkey consider the PKK a terror organisation. The US has been providing intelligence to Turkey on the Kurdish rebels since a November 5 meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President George W. Bush, who said the rebel group was an enemy of the US, Turkey and Iraq. A coordination centre has been set up in Ankara so Turks, Iraqis and Americans can share information. Ankara has said it would not tolerate more PKK attacks, after a string of deadly ambushes killed dozens of troops in the past months. In October, the parliament allowed the government to send troops into Iraq to hit rebel bases there. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
