Turkish air strikes kill 160 PKK fighters

Turkey's military says that air strikes and artillery fire on suspected Kurdish separatist targets in northern Iraq have killed 160 fighters and wounded as many as 100, Al Jazeera reported.

The military also said the casualty figures for this month's offensive did not include its latest air strikes on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, said on Monday that only three fighters and seven civilians, including four children, had been killed since the Turkish attacks began on August 17, but it vowed to respond with its own attacks.

The PKK has mounted a succession of attacks against Turkish military targets in recent weeks, notably an ambush earlier this month that killed seven soldiers.

The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union, is fighting for autonomy in Turkey's mostly Kurdish southeast region, and it routinely launches attacks from its bases in northern Iraq.

Tens of thousands of people have died since the PKK rebels began their campaign in Turkey in 1984.