Turkey bombards northern Iraq

Turkey bombards northern Iraq

Press TV
Thursday July 19, 2007

Turkey's military has waged a cross-border incursion into Iraq, bombarding northern areas of the country, the Iraqi government said.

The Iraqi government said Wednesday that Turkish artillery and warplanes bombarded areas of northern Iraq and urged Turkey to stop military operations and resort to dialogue, according to news agencies.

The claim occurred amid mounting Turkish threats to strike bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, which has been launching attacks against targets in Turkey from sanctuaries in Iraq.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh has told that the bombardment struck areas of the northern province of Dahuk, some 430 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

Col. Hussein Kamal said about 250 shells were fired into Iraq from Turkey. He added that there were no casualties on the Iraqi side of the border.

"We have received reports that the Turkish government and the Turkish army have bombed border villages. The Iraqi government regrets the Turkish military operations against border cities and towns," al-Dabbagh said.

Last week, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari declared that Turkey had deployed 140,000 soldiers along its border with Iraq.

Kurdish rebels staged a bomb attack against a military vehicle, killing two Turkish soldiers and wounding six others near the Iraqi border on Wednesday.