Kurdish separatists today threatened a new campaign of violence against Turkish cities as the country’s army pressed on with its latest offensive against guerrilla positions in northern Iraq.

In a tactic that could dramatically escalate the conflict, the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party, vowed to “move the theatre of combat to the heart of Turkish cities” unless Ankara ended the military campaign, which began on Thursday evening.

The rebel group is believed to have numerous “sleepers” within Kurdish communities in cities like Istanbul and Ankara, who are primed to carry out bomb attacks on military and government targets.

Unleashing them, however, could raise tensions with the Turkish majority and lead to reprisals on Kurds.

It came as the Turkish military claimed to have killed at least 79 PKK fighters, whose mountain hideouts across the border in northern Iraq have long been the bases for cross-border raids on Turkish military positions.

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The group, which has Marxist-Leninist roots, has been fighting for independence from Turkey since 1984, via a guerrilla warfare campaign that has cost around 40,000 lives either side.

“It has been understood from preliminary information that the terrorists have suffered heavy losses,” said a source within the Turkish military, which has deployed special forces units backed up by jets and helicopter gunships.

“According to intelligence, the (PKK) leaders are trying to flee the region, running southwards in panic.”

Turkish forces today also bombed targets around Al-Amadiyah, an Iraqi Kurdish mountain town about six miles south of the border where villagers reported both gunfights and artillery fire.

They claim to have caught the PKK by surprise by attacking the snow was still thick on the ground - traditionally a time for a lull in fighting - although yesterday the PKK disputed Ankara’s claim to be gaining the upper hand.

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