DOHUK, Iraq - Turkish armed forces tried to trap Kurdish guerrillas in the mountains of northern Iraq yesterday and Ankara appealed to Iran to stop the rebels fleeing to safety on the fifth day of a major cross border operation.
F-16 jets bombed rebel positions in the Iraqi mountains while a column of Turkish tanks moved northeast along the road from Dohuk to the town of Amediye, 70 km away, in what appeared to be preparations for a second prong of attack.
In Ankara, the Iranian charge d'affaires was called to the foreign ministry and asked for Tehran's support in preventing the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels from escaping Iraq for the safety of the Iran border.