Ankara - Four Turkish soldiers were killed Tuesday in a clash with Kurdish rebels in the south-east of the country as reports came in that Turkish warplanes had bombed empty villages in northern Iraq. The clash between Turkish forces and militants from the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) took place on Mount Gabor in the Turkish province of Sirnak, according to Turkish television.
One lieutenant and three privates were killed, NTV television reported. Nine soldiers were reported to have been wounded in the fighting.
Meanwhile, the Dogan news agency reported that Turkish warplanes had bombed empty villages some 7 kilometres from the Turkish border near the northern Iraqi town of Zaho in the early hours of Tuesday morning. One of the targets was a disused police station.
No casualties were reported in the attack.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had no knowledge of the attack.
Turkish troops are massed on the border with Iraq, and the government has threatened to order a large-scale operation into northern Iraq to wipe-out PKK bases.
The Turkish military estimates there are around 3,500 PKK rebels in northern Iraq.
Public pressure on the government to launch an operation reached a high point last month when PKK militants killed 12 soldiers and took eight hostage in an ambush just inside the Turkish border with Iraq. The soldiers were released last week.
