Turkish warplanes yesterday bombarded three abandoned settlements in an area of northern Iraq known as a refuge for rebel Kurds, rebel and Iraqi military officials said. "Turkish planes bombed the unihabited hamlets of Khorakouk, Khnira and Loulan in the Qandil Mountains near the Turkish border between 3.00 and 6.00 am today," said Ahmed Dinis, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). No-one was hurt, he added. Dinis would not say whether any guerrillas were in the area when the jets struck.The Qandil Mountains lie on the three-way border between Iraq, Iran and Turkey and are known as a stronghold of the PKK, which is fighting for Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey. An Iraqi military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the report by Dinis to reporters in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah.
Turkey has carried out several air strikes in northern Iraq since December, some using intelligence supplied by the US forces in the country, and has vowed to defeat what it says are 4,000 rebels using Qandil as a rearbase. The PKK, which is regarded as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, has waged a bloody campaign for Kurdish self-rule since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.