Thirty-five Kurdish rebels and two Turkish soldiers were killed in fighting in northern Iraq on Saturday according to a statement released by the Turkish General Staff as Turkish troops continued their operation against Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) guerrillas, DPA reported. The deaths on Saturday bring the overall death toll from the operation that began on Thursday night to seven Turkish soldiers and 79 PKK rebels, the General Staff said in a statement posted on its website. Fears that the incursion may result in the destabilization of the region were raised when the president of the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, said Kurds would fight back Turkish troops if military operations along the Iraq-Turkish borders extended to reach Kurdish inhabitants, while the PKK has vowed to take "the battle to Turkish cities" if the operation continues. "If the clashes harm any Kurdish citizens or further reached Kurdish inhabited areas, Kurds are instructed and are prepared to counter attack," a spokesman for the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan on Saturday quoted Barzani as saying after a meeting with leaders of the city of Dohuk on Friday night.
