(AFP) – Oct 31, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States is providing Turkey with intelligence on Kurdish rebel positions along the border with Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.

"The key for any sort of any military response, by the Turks or anybody else, is actionable intelligence," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.

"And we are making efforts to help them get actionable intelligence," he said.

Turkey has threatened to send its forces across the border into northern Iraq against the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK, in response to stepped up attacks inside Turkey by the rebel group.

The Turkish army has stepped up military operations against the PKK in the border area over the past week, using Cobra attack helicopters and artillery to strike rebel positions.

Morrell said the United States has shared intelligence -- "lots of intelligence" -- with the Turks for a long time, but has stepped up the intelligence-sharing recently.

"We have given them intelligence with regards to this situation for a long time. We have given them more and more intelligence as a result of their recent concerns," he said.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week said it did not make sense for the Turks to send its forces across the border or dropping bombs "without good intelligence."

The White House also had raised the possibility of providing the Turks with actionable intelligence on the PKK.

On Wednesday, the Turkish army said its forces had killed 15 Kurdish separatists near the border in an area where Turkish Cobra helicopters and artillery have been pounding PKK positions since Monday.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »