ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish warplanes launched air raids at suspected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq on Saturday after a rebel attack on a military outpost in Turkey touched off clashes in which nine soldiers and 12 rebel fighters died, Turkey’s military and reports said.
Two other soldiers were killed in a land- mine explosion while chasing the rebels, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported, raising the overall death toll in Saturday’s violence to 23.
Special forces were immediately sent to reinforce the border area where the clashes occurred, and Turkish warplanes bombed detected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq, the military said, without providing any further details. At least 14 other soldiers were wounded in the fighting.
Kurdish rebels have dramatically stepped up attacks in Turkey in recent months, threatening a government attempt to end one of the world’s longest guerrilla wars. The military said Friday that more than 40 soldiers had been killed since March. The Associated Press
