Turkey bombs Kurd positions in Iraq

Turkish warplanes have carried out strikes on suspected Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq, the army said on Sunday. The general staff said on its website the air strikes had hit "nine targets belonging to the separatist terrorist organisation" referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), on June 22-24. The jets safely returned to their bases in Turkey, it said. The air strikes are the second since a rebel attack on an army post near the Iraqi border on Tuesday killed eight Turkish soldiers, and wounded another 19. Local officials said around 20 rebels were killed in the attack. The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms in the Kurdish-majority southeast Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.