A Turkish military helicopter flies toward Iraq near Cukurca, Hakkari, Turkey, at the border with Iraq.

A Turkish military helicopter flies toward Iraq near Cukurca, Hakkari, Turkey, at the border with Iraq. About 10,000 elite Turkish soldiers were taking part in a ground offensive against Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey and across the border in Iraq on Thursday, making it the nation’s largest attack on the insurgents in more than three years, the military said. The offensive began Wednesday after Kurdish rebels carried out raids near the Turkey-Iraq border that killed 24 Turkish soldiers and wounded 18, the insurgents’ deadliest one-day attacks against the military since the mid-1990s.(AP Photo)