Dozens killed in Turkish incursion

Ankara: The Turkish military has said five soldiers and 24 Kurdish rebels were killed in clashes during its operations in northern Iraq.

In the first casualty figures given since the incursions began on Thursday night, the Turkish General Staff posted a statement on its website late on Friday saying that the troops also wounded a “large number'' of Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) guerrillas.

The statement did not say where the clashes took place but also claimed that at least 20 PKK rebels had been “rendered ineffective'' by Turkish artillery and attack helicopter strikes.

The United States and the European Union urged Ankara to keep its military campaign into northern Iraq limited. The White House said the United States had been informed in advance of the incursion and urged Turkey to limit the operation to "precise targeting" of the PKK rebels hiding there.