<span style="color: #222222;">Turkey has launched a new ground and air cross-border offensive against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. Turkey's Defence Minister Hulusi Akar yesterday said, jets and artillery struck suspected targets of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK. The Turkish Defence Ministry said, at least 19 militants were killed while four Turkish troops were wounded during the offensive. The new offensive was launched after it was determined that the militants were regrouping and preparing for a large-scale attack, said the Ministry. The offensive was carried out in coordination with Turkey's friends and allies, the Ministry added. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met the Prime Minister of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, Masrour Barzani, last week.<br />''<br />''Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the PKK, which is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union, began an insurgency in Turkey's majority Kurdish southeast region in 1984.</span><br />