Turkey launches attacks against Kurdish rebels

.Istanbul: Turkey has launched air and artillery attacks against Kurdish separatist rebels in northern Iraq following an insurgent attack on a Turkish military base, it said on Sunday.

A statement released on the Turkish military's website said artillery units and attack aircraft "intensely and effectively" struck rebel targets in the Avasin-Basyan area in northern Iraq on Saturday.

"Targets proven to belong to the PKK terrorist organisation in northern Iraq were put under heavy and effective fire by our air force planes with the support of artillery," it said.

The attacks began after 1500 GMT and targeted members of a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) group who had escaped into Iraq from Turkey after an attack on a Turkish military base that left six soldiers dead.

Investigations were underway to determine the casualties inflicted on the Kurdistan Workers Party.