(Update4)
By Mark Bentley and Ali Berat Meric
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) — Turkey bombed units of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq and sent troops over the border in pursuit of the militants, a lawmaker of Turkey’s governing party said today.
Turkish F-16 jets and artillery pounded at least 63 suspected rebel positions inside the Kurdish-controlled region from Oct. 21 until yesterday, said the lawmaker, who attended a briefing by government spokesman Cemil Cicek to a group of government deputies late yesterday in Ankara.
The army sent 300 commandos into Iraq by helicopter on Oct. 21 to hunt down PKK militants after 12 soldiers were killed by the group the same day, the official said. The attack on PKK bases up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) into Iraq lasted about 28 hours before troops returned to the Turkish side, he added.