Turkey Ramps Up Campaign Against Kurds

Fighters seek autonomy in southeast. Villagers flee homes.

Turkey's military on Thursday escalated its offensive against Kurdish fighters seeking autonomy in the southeast, with warplanes and helicopters pummeling the mountainous region with bombs, forcing many villagers to flee their homes, eyewitnesses and officials said.

A clash between Turkish troops and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, sparked the campaign that entered its 10th day on Thursday. Turkey's Dogan News Agency broadcast images of Turkish attack helicopters firing into mountains around the town of Semdinli in Hakkari province, which borders Iran and Iraq.