Turkish military says killed 25 Kurdish rebels in IraqSeptember 10, 2012 - 20:41 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Turkish military says it killed 25 Kurdish rebels during a recent offensive in northern Iraq, according to BBC News. Warplanes hit 14 rebel hideouts in the cross-border strikes from 5 to 9 September, it said in a statement. Clashes between soldiers and rebels have killed 461 people in south-east Turkey this year, the military said separately according to local media. Fighting between the army and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels in the region has escalated in the past year. The army has mounted hundreds of operations in a bid to drive out the rebels. Several thousand rebels are believed to be based in northern Iraq, and the Turkish military regularly violates Iraqi airspace to target them. "Initial data" suggest 25 terrorists were "rendered ineffective" in the recent air operation in northern Iraq, AFP news agency quoted the Turkish military as saying. The PKK has been fighting for an ethnic homeland in south-eastern Turkey since 1984. It is classified as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and EU. Of the 461 people the army says have died in south-east Turkey this year, 88 - about a fifth of the total - were soldiers killed over the past nine months, AFP quoted local TV network NTV as saying. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Welcome to CaseKey 2024. Byblos Bank Armenia firmly stands by future innovators Strategic business cases, invaluable experience, innovative approaches and more than 25 events are in store for the participants of CaseKey 2024. Macron honors Charles Aznavour on 100th anniversary French President Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to the memory of French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour. Blinken says U.S. reviewing a number of aid requests from Armenia He said the U.S. is reviewing the requests to determine what more it can do to increase its assistance to Armenia. At least 2 CSTO members participated in preparing 44-day war against Armenia – PM Nikol Pashinyan has declared that at least two CSTO member countries participated in preparations for the 44-day war against Armenia. |