KURDISH guerilla fighters said they had forced Turkey into a humiliating retreat in “the biggest war in Kurdistan in recent years” today as details of the heavy blows inflicted against Turkish soldiers were revealed.

Nato’s second-largest ground army withdrew troops from three bases in the Zap mountains in Iraqi Kurdistan last month, where it has met fierce resistance from Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters.

The PKK said its forces had launched a number of offensives against Turkish military positions in the area known as the Medya defence zones — the mountainous border region in Duhok province where battle has raged for the past eight months.