Military: Turkish Troops Cross Into Northern Iraq

[Purveyor]

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey sent hundreds of elite soldiers across the border into northern Iraq on Wednesday to chase a group of Kurdish guerrillas escaping after a failed attack on a Turkish unit near the border.

The soldiers killed four rebels, the military said, and it did not report any of its own casualties. The soldiers, supported by Turkish warplanes, were remaining in northern Iraq, the military said.

"The search operation of the units in the area are still under way," the military said. It did not say when the troops would withdraw.

The military has repeatedly staged air and ground assaults against Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq. The last major incursion was in February 2008, when thousands of ground forces staged a weeklong offensive into Iraq.

The military said on its website that three commando companies and one special forces battalion penetrated 2 miles (3 kilometers) into Iraq.

Turkish warplanes also pounded Kurdish rebel positions and mortar and anti-aircraft units deeper inside Iraqi territory on Wednesday, the military said.

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_TURKEY_IRAQ_KURDS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-06-16-11-48-48

[fishbulb703]

1. Did that happen during Saddam's reign too?

[atreides1]

2. Yes

I believe that it was in 1998. But still checking on that.