Turkish planes bomb northern Iraq

Turkish warplanes bombed villages deep in northern Iraq early on Sunday, killing one woman and wounding two other people in one of the heaviest raids against Kurdish rebels in months, local officials said.

In Ankara, the Turkish military's General Staff said in a statement its warplanes had attacked targets of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which uses northern Iraq as a base from which to attack security forces inside Turkey.

Private broadcaster CNN Turk quoted unnamed Turkish military sources denying that Iraqi villages had been targeted.

If the death of the woman is confirmed it would be the first since Turkey stepped up artillery bombardments and airstrikes on suspected PKK bases in the Qandil mountains in October.

Turkey's deputy prime minister, Cemil Cicek, said the military would continue such operations "as and when required". Reuters