902 Kurd Rebels Reported Slain in Turkish Assault

HABUR, Turkey — Turkey’s cross-border offensive against Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq has killed 902 Kurdish guerrillas in four days, the official Anatolia news agency said Saturday.

A spokesman for a Brussels-based, pro-rebel television station disputed the casualty figures, although he would not say how many rebels had died.

“It’s a huge lie. . . . It is impossible to inflict such a great loss on guerrilla fighters,” spokesman Irfan Dogan said.

Anatolia said only 12 Turkish troops have died in the offensive, but Dogan claimed that the rebels had killed 40 Turkish soldiers.

On Saturday, Turkish jets bombed six Kurdish rebel camps about nine miles inside Iraq, Anatolia said, and Turkey sent 30 more tanks across the border.

Since Wednesday, Turkey has sent tens of thousands of troops into Iraq in an offensive targeting the bases of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party.

Iraq has condemned the offensive, but there was little it could do: After the Persian Gulf War, the area has been kept out of its reach by a U.S.-led allied air force.

The United Nations and the European Union have also spoken out against the attacks, but there are no signs that Turkey plans to withdraw its forces--estimated at between 25,000 and 50,000--soon.