Turkey Says 127 Killed in Iraq Battles; U.S. Urges Restraint

By Ken Fireman and Mark Bentley

Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Turkey said the death toll in three days of battles with Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq reached 127, as the U.S. urged a swift end to the incursion.

Turkey's armed forces have killed 112 militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, including 33 today, the military said on its Web site. Fifteen Turkish soldiers have also died in the conflict, it said.

``We will continue the operation with the same determination and heroism until planned targets are reached,'' the military said, adding that jets, artillery and helicopters had hit 63 suspected PKK targets since troops went over the border on Feb. 21.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Turkey should wrap up the military campaign, adding Turkey won't be able to solve the problem of cross-border Kurdish raids through purely military means.

``I would hope that it would be short, that it would be precise and avoid the loss of innocent life, and that they leave as quickly as they can accomplish their mission,'' Gates told reporters today in Canberra, Australia.

Turkey has fought the autonomy-seeking PKK for two decades at the cost of almost 40,000 lives, most of them Kurdish. The U.S. and the European Union brand the group as terrorists.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ken Fireman in Canberra at kfireman1@bloomberg.net Mark Bentley in Ankara at mbentley3@bloomberg.net