InTheNews.co.uk
Breaking News:
Your source for news

News Story

 29 August 2008 07:14 BST

Death toll grows as Turkey's Iraq incursion continues

Tuesday, 26 Feb 2008 11:00
A Turkish army helicopter takes off to assist the Iraq incursion
Turkey's incursion into northern Iraq has left over 150 Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK) militants dead as fighting continues.

Following yesterday's bombing of Hakurk the Turkish forces are now closing in on a major PKK base in the Zap area, according to reports. Helicopter gunships and artillery are being extensively used as fighting continues.

Two more Turkish soldiers were killed yesterday, raising the official death toll among the invading force to 17. The PKK claims it has killed 81, however.

The fighting continues an incursion begun last Thursday, prompting outrage from Iraqi government officials in Baghdad.

Foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari told the Al-Jazeera news agency he viewed the operation as "destabilising for our country" and a "serious escalation of events".

But officials representing the autonomous Kurdish north of Iraq criticised Baghdad for taking an insufficiently strong stance on the issue.

The UN, US and others are also placing pressure on Turkey to limit the scope of the incursion, which Ankara insists is targeting only PKK forces. The Turkish parliament authorised an incursion in October last year.

US defence secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the invasion "would be short… precise and avoid the loss of innocent life".

The PKK supports the creation of an independent Kurdish state and is condemned as a terrorist group by the international community.

Its conflict with Turkey has killed around 40,000 people since beginning in 1984.End of story


More headline news... 

Also In The News 

© 2004- 2008 www.inthenews.co.uk. Advertise | Privacy | Terms of Use