Turkish bombardment has killed 15 civilians in northern Iraq, Independent sources & Al Arabiya Television Channel reported on Friday.
Three Kurdish shepherd in northern Iraq was the first known civilian victim of Ankara’s air and ground assault on the region.
The official from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, Ihsan Chalabi, told the shepherds were killed early Thursday morning when Turkish air strikes hit the Bradost district.
On Wednesday, Turkey launched a cross-border operation into the mountainous terrain of northern Iraq where the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has rear bases.
Ankara considers the PKK a “terrorist” organization because of its decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.
Turkey has sporadically bombed PKK hideouts in northern Iraq but its new operation, dubbed “Claw-Tiger,” is a dramatic escalation and has prompted scores of families in the area to flee, according to local activists.
Iraq’s foreign ministry has summoned Turkish ambassador Fatih Yildiz twice this week, demanding Ankara withdraw its special forces and halt the bombing campaign.
But Yildiz has been defiant, telling Iraqi authorities that if Baghdad did not take action against the rebels, Ankara would continue to “fight the PKK wherever it is.”
Iraq even summoned Iran’s envoy in response to cross-border shelling of Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. Iran, which has its own Kurdish minority, has also been fighting Kurdish rebels who use Iraq as a base.
There has been no direct comment from Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, who is himself a Kurd and is close to top officials in the autonomous Kurdish region, where “Claw-Tiger” is taking place.
The regional government considers the PKK a rival group but have been unable to uproot it from its mountain hideouts.
The official from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, Ihsan Chalabi, told the shepherds were killed early Thursday morning when Turkish air strikes hit the Bradost district.
On Wednesday, Turkey launched a cross-border operation into the mountainous terrain of northern Iraq where the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has rear bases.
Ankara considers the PKK a “terrorist” organization because of its decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.
Turkey has sporadically bombed PKK hideouts in northern Iraq but its new operation, dubbed “Claw-Tiger,” is a dramatic escalation and has prompted scores of families in the area to flee, according to local activists.
Iraq’s foreign ministry has summoned Turkish ambassador Fatih Yildiz twice this week, demanding Ankara withdraw its special forces and halt the bombing campaign.
But Yildiz has been defiant, telling Iraqi authorities that if Baghdad did not take action against the rebels, Ankara would continue to “fight the PKK wherever it is.”
Iraq even summoned Iran’s envoy in response to cross-border shelling of Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. Iran, which has its own Kurdish minority, has also been fighting Kurdish rebels who use Iraq as a base.
There has been no direct comment from Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, who is himself a Kurd and is close to top officials in the autonomous Kurdish region, where “Claw-Tiger” is taking place.
The regional government considers the PKK a rival group but have been unable to uproot it from its mountain hideouts.
At least four civilians have been reported killed as Turkish warplanes bombard areas east of Duhok Friday, near Turkey's border with the Kurdistan Region, Washin Salman, the head of Shiladze town has told Rudaw.
The local official told Rudaw that in two separate strikes, three men aged between 30 to 40 were killed, two in Shiladze and one in Kani Masi, located in the Amedi region of Duhok province, near the border with Turkey. An additional civilian death was reported later in the day, by local officials.
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