ANKARA, Turkey, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Turkey targeted Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq for a second day, broadening the reach of its fight against the rebels, officials said.
The attacks Thursday came as Turkey said it's turning intelligence outposts into operations garrisons to fight the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as PKK, to northern Iraq, where Turkey has 2,500 troops.
Turkey, which has had intelligence outposts in the region since 1995, will transform a Bamerni garrison into a logistics center for supporting major operations against PKK, Today's Zaman reported.
The publication, citing sources, said fortification of outposts would enable Turkish troops in Iraq to stay there longer to search for members of the outlawed PKK. Bombings are to continue and units from Sirnak province will be deployed in the region, officials said.
Today's Zaman did not give casualty figures in the latest attacks.
The 25 cross-border operations Turkey has conducted so far have been short because of pressure from allies and regional governments, but sources told Today's Zaman Turkey would now continue operations as long as necessary to end the threat of terrorism in northern Iraq.
After a regular meeting Thursday, led by President Abdullah Gul, Turkey's National Security Council said it's embarking on "more effective and decisive strategy in the fight against terrorism."
About 20 million of Turkey's 74 million residents are Kurds, living mainly in the southeast near the country's borders with Iraq and Iran, and the PKK's fight for Kurdish independence has claimed 40,000 lives in the past three decades.
