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TURKEY BOMBING NORTHERN IRAQ
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.12.2007 13:16 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish warplanes have bombed suspected Kurdish
rebel bases deep inside northern Iraq - in what appears the first
time fighter jets have been used. They targeted the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) in areas near the border, officials said.
The Turkish media said up to 50 planes were used.
Iraqi officials say bombs hit 10 villages, killing one woman, while
the PKK reported seven deaths.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the air strikes as a
"success". "Our struggle [against the PKK] will continue inside and
outside Turkey with the same determination."
Turkey has regularly targeted the PKK inside Iraq in recent months,
but this is thought to be the first fighter jet raid outside its own
territory. Previous strikes had used artillery or helicopters.
The planes hit the regions of Zap, Hakurk and Avasin as well as
areas in the Kandil mountains in an operation lasting three hours,
the Turkish military said.
A "comprehensive air campaign" was carried out from 0100 on Sunday
(2300 GMT Saturday), aimed at "terrorists" and "not conducted against
people living in northern Iraq or local groups not engaged in enemy
activity", it added.
One of the sorties hit an area near the Kandil mountains, a region
further away from the border into Iraqi territory, and regularly cited
by Turkey as a centre of PKK activity. Cross-border artillery barrages
followed from the town of Cukurca in Turkish territory, reports say.
The head of Turkey's military said last night it had US approval for
the air strikes. "America last night opened Iraqi airspace to us. By
opening Iraqi airspace to us last night America gave its approval to
the operation," said General Yasar Buyukanit, BBC reports.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.12.2007 13:16 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish warplanes have bombed suspected Kurdish
rebel bases deep inside northern Iraq - in what appears the first
time fighter jets have been used. They targeted the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) in areas near the border, officials said.
The Turkish media said up to 50 planes were used.
Iraqi officials say bombs hit 10 villages, killing one woman, while
the PKK reported seven deaths.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the air strikes as a
"success". "Our struggle [against the PKK] will continue inside and
outside Turkey with the same determination."
Turkey has regularly targeted the PKK inside Iraq in recent months,
but this is thought to be the first fighter jet raid outside its own
territory. Previous strikes had used artillery or helicopters.
The planes hit the regions of Zap, Hakurk and Avasin as well as
areas in the Kandil mountains in an operation lasting three hours,
the Turkish military said.
A "comprehensive air campaign" was carried out from 0100 on Sunday
(2300 GMT Saturday), aimed at "terrorists" and "not conducted against
people living in northern Iraq or local groups not engaged in enemy
activity", it added.
One of the sorties hit an area near the Kandil mountains, a region
further away from the border into Iraqi territory, and regularly cited
by Turkey as a centre of PKK activity. Cross-border artillery barrages
followed from the town of Cukurca in Turkish territory, reports say.
The head of Turkey's military said last night it had US approval for
the air strikes. "America last night opened Iraqi airspace to us. By
opening Iraqi airspace to us last night America gave its approval to
the operation," said General Yasar Buyukanit, BBC reports.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress