Reports: Turkish 'security zones' masking battles; F-16s conduct air strikes inside Iraq

Above: F-16s of the Turkish Air Force, one of the oldest air forces in the world. Turkey operates one of the largest combat aircraft fleets in NATO, while Iraq's air force is virtually nonexistant.

Turkish army sets up security zones to combat Kurdish rebels

The Turkish army Thursday announced the creation of three temporary security zones in the southeast, to remain in effect from June 9 to September 9, as part of a major operation against separatist Kurdish rebels.

The zones, whose coordinates were revealed on the General Staff Internet site, cover uninhabited mountainous regions in the provinces of Siirt, Sirnak and Hakkari, close to the border with Iraq.

Turkey says thousands of rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) use bases in the Kurdish-held autonomous north of Iraq as a springboard for attacks on Turkish targets across the border.

A source close to the military said checkpoints would control access to the zones, from which civilians will be barred and whose air space will be closed to civilian traffic.

Read the rest at France 24

Turkey imposes three-month martial law on its border region with Iraq, closes region’s airspace to civilian flights

It followed the outbreak of fierce battles between Turkish army and Kurdish PKK rebels on both sides of Turkish-Iraqi border. A Turkish Black Hawk shot down over Iraq and several tanks hit. Heavy casualties are reported on both sides.

The PKK Kurdish Workers Party turns out to have been ready for the major Turkish operation, well-armed with anti-tank and shoulder-borne missiles for shooting down Turkish warplanes and helicopters. Despite Ankara’s blackout on the scale of operation against the Kurdish rebels on both sides of the border and the scope of the Turkish incursion of Iraq, DEBKAfile’s military sources report the situation as of Thursday, June 7:

PKK bands, who stole earlier into southeastern Turkey from Iraq and locally, are hitting Turkish concentrations behind the lines and impeding their thrust into Iraqi Kurdistan to destroy rebel hideouts...

The Turkish news agency Cehan reported Wednesday that three F-16 Falcon fighter bombers had carried out bombing raids on positions of the PKK in northern Iraq.

Read the rest at Debka File

Bomb kills 3 Turkish soldiers in one of military's newly declared 'security zones' near Iraq

A roadside bomb killed three Turkish soldiers and wounded six Thursday in one of several "temporary security zones" that the military had just declared along the Iraq border during its campaign to crush Kurdish separatists.

Authorities blamed the Kurdish rebels for the blast, which came amid increasing activity by Turkish troops along the frontier that has fed concerns the army might stage a large-scale offensive against rebel bases in the predominantly Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Turkish leaders say guerrillas cross into Turkey to stage attacks in their recently escalated fight to win autonomy for southeastern Turkey, where ethnic Kurds make up much of the population.

The bomb targeted a military vehicle near Siirt, a city 46 miles north of the Iraq border, the governor's office said. It killed three soldiers and wounded six other security personnel, including pro-government village guards, the office said.

Read the rest at AOL News

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