ANKARA — Kurdish rebels killed 10 Turkish soldiers in an attack on an army post and a mine explosion near the border with Iraq, prompting retaliatory air raids on rebel outposts, the army said Saturday.
The rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for the attack which killed eight soldiers at a military post near the city of Semdinli close to the Iraqi border, PKK spokesman Ahmed Denis told AFP in the Iraqi Kurdistan regional capital of Arbil.
"Turkish warplanes have started to attack the Khwakorek district inside Iraqi territory," Denis said, adding that he had no information on number of casualties.
The Turkish military responded with helicopters to the army post attack and killed 12 rebels, the army said in an online statement. It also said 14 soldiers had been wounded.
Turkish fighter jets then launched a raid targeting PKK rebel positions in northern Iraq where the separatists have rear bases, the military said.
Later Saturday, two soldiers were killed by a remote-controlled mine while engaged in operations to capture Kurdish rebels infiltrating across the border.
