Several F-16 warplanes loaded with bombs and attack helicopters took off from an air base in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir, according to an AP cameraman. The warplanes and helicopter gunships bombed mountain paths used by rebels to infiltrate from neighbouring Iraq, the Anatolia news agency reported.
A government official said yesterday that Turkish helicopter gunships penetrated Iraqi territory and troops shelled suspected Kurdish rebel positions across the border in Iraq on Sunday. Helicopters chased Kurdish rebels three miles into Iraqi territory but returned to their bases in Turkey after a rebel ambush killed 12 soldiers near the border, the official said.
He also said Turkish artillery units shelled rebel positions as recently as Tuesday night but did not say which areas were targeted.Turkey, which has moved troops to the Iraq border, warned Iraq and western allies on Tuesday that a large-scale incursion was imminent unless the US-backed government in Baghdad takes action against the rebels. The Turkish government said there would be no ceasefire with the fighters, who want an independent region in Turkey's heavily Kurdish south-east.
Civilian and military leaders discussed a possible cross-border offensive - a move that Turkey's western allies are trying to prevent. A statement by Turkey's national security council recommended the government "take necessary economic measures against those groups directly or indirectly supporting the separatist terrorist organisation in the region".
Recent news reports by local media have said Turkey is pondering economic actions against the self-ruling Kurdish administration in Iraq's north, where rebels are based.
Foreign trade minister Kursad Tuzmen said yesterday that Turkey could impose economic sanctions on northern Iraq to force Iraqi Kurds to cooperate with Turkey. The region is heavily reliant on Turkish electricity, investment and food.
Turkey's leaders face growing demands at home for an offensive in northern Iraq, where the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party - the PKK - rest, train and get supplies in relative safety before returning to Turkey. Turkey has long pressed Iraq to capture and extradite rebel leaders.
Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered the closure of all offices belonging to the PKK in Iraq and said they would not be allowed to operate in Iraqi territory.
The US has urged anti-rebel measures from the government of Iraq's Kurdish region.
