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The last major ground incursion into northern Iraq by Turkish troops in their fight against Kurdish militants was in February 2008.

But now, with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) staging a comeback in Turkey, having recently launched a series of deadly attacks in Istanbul and in the country's southeast, the prospects of a fresh offensive against Kurdish bases in northern Iraq by Turkey's military is growing.

Turkey's military chief, General Ilker Basbug, said on June 22 that he would not rule out the possibility of a new major cross-border offensive against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.

Basbug's comments come as pressure mounts on Ankara to rein in violence that has been escalating, once again, in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey and along the border with Iraq.

Already, elite Turkish commando units have rappelled from helicopters to mountain positions along the Iraqi border while infantry in armored personnel carriers have been blocking escape routes used by Kurdish militants.

Also on the Turkish side of the border, government troops have been closing in on bands of militants who have fortified themselves on the slopes of two mountains -- Kupeli and Cirav -- in Simak Province.

The PKK said earlier this month that it was scrapping its year-old unilateral cease-fire and resuming attacks against Turkish forces because of military operations against them.