Turkey vows crackdown in response to Kurdish attack

Soldiers, air force bombers and helicopter gunships began a major offensive in south-eastern Turkey on Friday, the Associated Press reported.

It followed the ambush on Thursday in which seven rebels were also killed - the deadliest clash in three years.

Meanwhile, a Kurdish umbrella group declared "democratic autonomy".

"As the Kurdish people we declare democratic autonomy, remaining bound to the national unity of the peoples of Turkey," read Aysel Tugluk, deputy chairwoman of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) on Thursday, at about the same time that the ambush was taking place.

The DTK describes itself as a local grouping of Kurds in eastern Turkey, comprising intellectuals, representatives from civil society organisations and pro-Kurdish politicians.

Commentators say its "democratic autonomy" idea has not been clearly defined, but it angered the government.

Prosecutors opened an investigation into the declaration, and could press criminal charges against some of the 850 delegates who took part in the DTK event.

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