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Turkish jets bomb more targets in Iraq

Turkish fighter jets have bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq, a spokesman for Iraqi Kurdistan's Peshmerga security forces said.

Jabar Yawar said the jets bombed an area about 85km north of Irbil near the border with Turkey on Sunday for about an hour-and-a-half. He said there were no civilian casualties because the area was deserted because of a fear of Turkish attacks.

Yawar said he did not know whether any Kurdish rebels had been killed.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred questions to the General Staff, but military authorities were not immediately available to discuss any military operations on Sunday.

"We are using our nation's natural right under international law," while keeping within the limits of reason, Erdogan said when journalists asked about reports of a fresh cross-border operation, state-run media reported.

The US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said before Sunday's attack that the US acknowledges Turkey's right to defend itself but asked the US ally and NATO member not to endanger Iraq's stability.

"At the same time we've also said that we all have a pretty substantial interest in the stability of Iraq and none of us want to see operations pursued in a manner that can threaten basic stability inside Iraq," Crocker said.

On Saturday, Turkey staged its third cross-border operation against rebels in neighboring Iraq in less than a week. The pro-Kurdish news agency Firat said the rebels did not suffer any casualties in Saturday's attack.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, has fought for autonomy in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast since 1984. The group is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU.

After a surge in attacks by the rebels, some of whom are based in northern Iraq, Turkey said it would tolerate no more PKK attacks. The Parliament voted to allow the military to strike rebel hideouts and camps across the Iraqi border.

The US and Iraq have asked Turkey to show restraint in its response to the guerrillas, fearing that a large Turkish incursion could destabilize what has been Iraq's most stable area.
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