Turkey reports hundreds of rebels killed

ANKARA, Turkey, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The Turkish military said Monday two days of aerial and ground incursions into Iraq killed hundreds of Kurdish separatists.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended the strikes Sunday, saying international law allowed a country to defend its sovereignty with pre-emptive measures.

The strike targeted positions Turkey believed were hotbeds of rebels with the Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK. Despite reports of attacks Saturday and Sunday, PKK officials denied there had been any deaths, Iraq's Alsumaria news network reported.

Kurdish spokesman Jibar Yawar said air raids Sunday targeted agricultural lands, and only vacant fields had been bombed or strafed.

Since 1986, Kurds have been attacking Turkish border areas in their quest to establish an independent state in a region that straddles Iraq, Turkey and Iran.