Turkish troops killed at least 49 Kurdish insurgents near the Iraqi border, the military announced on Saturday, while hundreds of troops continued pushing off Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq. On Wednesday, Turkey launched anti-rebel offensives after 24 troops were killed by insurgents from the Kurdistan Workers' Party - the PKK - the deadliest one-day toll against Turkey's military since the 1990s. Tens of thousands of people as a result of the conflict between the two groups, ever since the insurgents began an armed fight for autonomy in the country's Kurdish-dominated southeast in 1984. Iran and Iraq have vowed to help Turkey fight the PKK in their regions.
