ANKARA: Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel hideouts in northern Iraq overnight in the latest air raid in the region since mid-December, the military said on Thursday. The “intensive” strike targeted Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) hideouts in the Zap area along the Turkish frontier, which is known as a major rebel stronghold, said a statement posted on the army’s website. “All 13 targets were successfully hit,” it said, adding that work was under way to determine how many PKK militants were killed.

“Operations as part of the fight against terrorism will continue with determination both at home and abroad,” it added.

A PKK spokesman in Iraq said the rebels did not suffer any losses in the bombing which began at 10:30 pm (2030 GMT) and targeted the Gamgo and Obash areas in the Zap region. “The bombing lasted until midnight. The PKK forces have not suffered any casualties, because we have taken all the necessary precautions to reduce our losses,” Ahmed Danis told AFP by telephone from his base in the Qandil mountains in northern Iraq. The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, has been fighting for self-rule in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

In the latest episode of bloodshed inside Turkey, two children were killed Thursday in a mine blast outside a small village near the town of Lice in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, a security source said.