Turkish Troops Chase Kurds in Iraq: Patrick Cockburn (UK Independent)

Several thousand Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas early yesterday. The incursion, though limited in scope, gives the crisis in Iraq a new twist.

"It is not a major offensive and the number of troops is not in the tens of thousands," said an official in south-east Turkey where there has recently been an upsurge in activity by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) Turkish Kurd guerrillas.

Nevertheless, the US will be worried that its entanglement in Iraq is about to become even more complicated if American troops and aircraft are asked to counter even a limited Turkish assault.