AFP: Several mortar shells landed in Turkey's southeast corner Monday after Iranian soldiers bombed Kurdish rebels positions in northern Iraq, a security source said.
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AFP) — Several mortar shells landed in Turkey's southeast corner Monday after Iranian soldiers bombed Kurdish rebels positions in northern Iraq, a security source said.
The shells, which came from Iran, landed in a remote rural area near the town of Yuksekova in Hakkari province which borders both Iran and Iraq, the source said on condition of anonymity.
There were no injuries and it was not immediately clear how many shells landed in Turkey.
The incident happened after Iranian security forces opened fire on positions of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an Iranian Kurdish separatist group which has launched attacks on Iran from rear-supply bases in the mountains of northern Iraq, the source added.
Turkish soldiers were investigating the incidents on their side of the border while Iranian forces were carrying out a similar probe on their side, the source said.
PJAK is closely allied with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which also uses northern Iraq to launch similar attacks against Turkey in its 24-year campaign for self-rule.
The Turkish army also carries out air raids against PKK positions in the Kurdish-held enclave or targets the rebels with artillery.
Some 45,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the PKK, blacklisted as a terror group by the European Union and the United States, took up arms for autonomy in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast.
