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Page last updated at 11:20 GMT, Sunday, 8 June 2008 12:20 UK

Turkish jets hit PKK rebel target

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Turkish warplanes have bombed a Kurdish rebel target in northern Iraq, the Turkish military says.

A statement on the military's website said jets hit a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) target "effectively", in the Zap region, on Saturday night.

A PKK spokesman said the strike hit empty bases, causing no casualties.

Turkey has launched a number of attacks against alleged PKK bases in recent months, several of them across the border in Iraq.

"The fighters do not have fixed bases. That is why such air strikes are useless because they do not have any effect on us," PKK spokesman Ahmad Danas told the Associated Press news agency.

The PKK, which is seeking autonomy for Kurds in south-eastern Turkey, is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and EU.

More than 30,000 people have been killed since the group began its armed campaign in 1984.

Turkey has accused Iraq of failing to stop the rebels using its territory as a safe haven.



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