Iraq protests Turkey air blitz
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
TURKEY'S bombardment of suspected PKK rebel rear-bases inside northern Iraq drew a furious response yesterday from the Iraqi government and villagers hit by the air strikes.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said civilians had suffered in the bombings, despite Turkey's insistence that only Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases had been targeted.
"We understand Turkish concerns over the presence of PKK, but yesterday there was some collateral damages to civilians. ... such action must be coordinated with the Iraqi government," said Zebari, who did not give casualty figures.
Local officials said Sunday morning's bombardment had killed a woman and seriously wounded five other civilians as well as destroying schools and bridges in the foothills of the Qandil mountains.
"We all were asleep when the warplanes struck our village," said Hassan Ibrahim, 75, a farmer from the village of Qalatuqa along the Iraq-Turkey border.
"When the attack came I got out of the house. We were all suffocating because of the dust."
He said Turkish warplanes had been overflying the region for the past month.
"Earlier it was Saddam who destroyed our homes, now it is the Turks," an angry Ibrahim told AFP as he prepared to leave his home. "We are going far away and we don't even know why we are being blamed. The Turkish planes have left us with no choice but to flee."
On Sunday, Turkish warplanes hit several villages along the border with Iraq as part of its military operation to target PKK rebel hideouts.
The PKK is fighting for self-rule in southeastern Turkey since 1984. More than 37,000 people have died since the conflict broke out.AFP
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said civilians had suffered in the bombings, despite Turkey's insistence that only Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases had been targeted.
"We understand Turkish concerns over the presence of PKK, but yesterday there was some collateral damages to civilians. ... such action must be coordinated with the Iraqi government," said Zebari, who did not give casualty figures.
Local officials said Sunday morning's bombardment had killed a woman and seriously wounded five other civilians as well as destroying schools and bridges in the foothills of the Qandil mountains.
"We all were asleep when the warplanes struck our village," said Hassan Ibrahim, 75, a farmer from the village of Qalatuqa along the Iraq-Turkey border.
"When the attack came I got out of the house. We were all suffocating because of the dust."
He said Turkish warplanes had been overflying the region for the past month.
"Earlier it was Saddam who destroyed our homes, now it is the Turks," an angry Ibrahim told AFP as he prepared to leave his home. "We are going far away and we don't even know why we are being blamed. The Turkish planes have left us with no choice but to flee."
On Sunday, Turkish warplanes hit several villages along the border with Iraq as part of its military operation to target PKK rebel hideouts.
The PKK is fighting for self-rule in southeastern Turkey since 1984. More than 37,000 people have died since the conflict broke out.AFP
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