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Turkish planes bomb Kurdish rebel targets in Iraq: PKK

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, May 2, 2008 (AFP) - Dozens of Turkish planes bombed Kurdish rebel hideouts in northern Iraq on Thursday in the latest in a series of cross-border strikes, a spokesman for the guerrillas said.

On Friday, Ahmed Danis of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) told AFP that the air strikes had targeted the Qandil area, a stronghold of the rebels.

"Dozens of Turkish planes raided the Qandil mountains where the PKK bases are" at around 3:00 pm (1200 GMT), he said. "We suffered no casualties."

Turkish warplanes have targeted PKK positions in northern Iraq since mid-December.

In February, Turkey's military carried out a week-long ground offensive against PKK hideouts in the region, where Ankara estimates more than 2,000 PKK militants are holed up.

The Turkish government has a one-year parliamentary authorisation, which expires in October, for raids across the border.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, has been fighting for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.