Turkey launches new Iraq strikes
Saturday, 22 Dec 2007 19:42
Turkish military confirms fresh strikes against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
Turkish warplanes have launched new strikes against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, a military statement has confirmed.
A post on the army's official website said fighter planes have been attacking targets held by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The bombing lasted for almost half an hour and was followed by shelling from within the Turkish border, the statement added.
The Associated Press news agency quoted the army statement as adding that operations would continue "no matter how the conditions are".
Turkey's parliament has authorised cross-border operations against the group which is thought to have made Kurdish areas of the US-occupied territory into a safe-haven and is seeking greater autonomy for the area.
Iraqi officials said air strikes and subsequent raids on December 16th killed one woman while the PKK reported seven deaths.
However today's attacks did not cause any deaths, according to authorities in northern Iraq.
"The aerial bombardment didn't result in any people killed because the area is almost deserted because of fear of aerial and mortar attacks from the Turkish side," the Reuters news agency quoted Jabbar Yawer, an Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga spokesman, as saying.
A total of 100,000 troops with tanks and artillery are present along the border between the two countries. While Turkey has said that it has the right to invade its neighbour with troops in order to deal with the threat of terrorism, it has been discouraged from doing so by the west which fears further instability in the area.
The PKK has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the US and
European Union.