Turks hunt killer rebels

COMMANDOS from Turkey chasing Kurdish guerrillas who killed 26 of their army comrades crossed the border into northern Iraq today.

The pursuers killed at least 15 militants in clashes with the Kurdistan Workers' Party - PKK - a few miles into Iraq, said military sources.

The soldiers died when rebels fired on military outposts in Hakkari province on the Iraqi border. At least 22 were wounded. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a planned visit to Kazakhstan. The PKK did not immediately claim responsibility for the raids yesterday and today.

The attacks began on the same day five policemen and three civilians, including a girl of two, were killed in a roadside bombing by suspected Kurdish rebels in nearby Bitlis province.

More than 40,000 have died since Kurdish rebels launched their fight for independence from Turkey in 1984.

Separatists have killed more than 50 Turkish security personnel since July, while Turkey has launched retaliatory air raids on rebel targets in Iraq.