Turkish troops 'killed by rebels'

BBC

Nine Turkish soldiers have been killed in clashes with Kurdish rebels, Turkish media report.

The soldiers were reportedly killed in an ambush by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, near the Iraq border.

The attack is the first since Turkey's parliament authorised the military to launch cross-border incursions into Iraq to hunt rebels based in the area.

The vote followed a series of attacks blamed on the PKK in which almost 30 soldiers and civilians were killed.

The attack took place in south-eastern Hakkari province near the town of Yuksekova, state news agency Anatolia said.

About 3,000 PKK fighters are believed to be based in northern Iraq near the Turkish border, says the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul.

The attack will increase pressure on the government from the public and the military to do something about Kurdish rebels based in Iraq, our correspondent says.....