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Turkish army claims massive toll from Iraq bombing raid
The Turkish military Tuesday claimed to have inflicted massive losses on Kurdish rebels in recent bombing raids in northern Iraq as Iraqi Kurds reported a fresh strike by Turkish warplanes in the region."It is understood that between 150 and 175 terrorists... were rendered ineffective" in a December 16 strike, the general staff said in a statement on its web site. "The figure does not include the terrorists who were rendered ineffective as a result of hideouts or caves collapsing in the air raid." The statement added that many rebels were also wounded in the operation and taken to hospitals in Arbil, Raniyah, Kaladiza and Choman in the north of Iraq. The December 16 bombing was the first Turkish air strike against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq since October when parliament authorised cross-border military action against the armed separatist group. The PKK said at the time that five of its militants and two civilians were killed. The strike, which was backed by artillery, destroyed all of its targets including 16 command, training and logistical bases as well as 182 hideouts, 10 anti-aircraft defence positions and 14 ammunition depots, the army said. That attack was followed by a small-scale ground operation in which Turkish troops penetrated "several kilometers" into northern Iraq from the southeast Turkish province of Hakkari. A second air raid on December 22 targeted "hideouts and anti-aircraft positions belonging to the PKK," the army said. Since then, officials in northern Iraq have reported two other Turkish air raids, including a brief one on Tuesday which the Turkish army has not confirmed. An official from the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga security force said Turkish planes bombed three villages in northern Iraq on Tuesday, targeting rebel bases in the Kurdish province of Dohuk. He said Tuesday's air strike lasted around 10 minutes shortly after midday, and hit the villages of Rikan, Shezee and Samjuhu in the border region of Al-Amadiyah. "The villages were deserted," the official said on condition of anonymity. The series of raids have been coordinated with the US military in Iraq and US President George W. Bush spoke to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday. Turkish news agency Anatolia said Bush gave his backing for military strikes on PKK bases and that the two men hailed the cooperation in Ankara's battle against the outlawed group. They agreed to continue sharing intelligence and again classed the PKK as a "common enemy", Anatolia said, stressing that Erdogan told Bush that Turkey's military operations were only targeting rebels. Turkey had complained the Iraqi government and its US backers were not doing enough to halt PKK attacks inside Turkey from sanctuaries in northern Iraq. An estimated 3,500 PKK militants are based in northern Iraq and use camps in the region as a springboard for attacks across the border on Turkish targets. Ankara has accused Iraqi Kurds, who run an autonomous administration in the north of the country, of tolerating and supporting the PKK. Iraq officials have protested over the Turkish raids. Since 1984, the PKK's armed rebellion against Turkey for Kurdish self-rule has claimed more than 37,000 lives. The group is classed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Turkey, which has the second largest army in the NATO military alliance after the US with 515,000 troops, has moved around 100,000 soldiers up to its 380-kilometre (235-mile) border with Iraq. Posted by: tipper 2007-12-25 |
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