Turkish Warplanes Bomb Villages in Northern Iraq
BAGHDAD (Dispatches) –Turkish fighter jets bombed on Saturday several border villages in Iraq’s Kurdistan, causing damage, an Iraqi official agency reported.
"The Turkish warplanes bombed the edge of several Kurdish villages near the town of Zakho in the northern province of Duhok,” the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) said.
"One of the missiles landed near a house in the village of al-Rwaisi near Zakho and caused serious damage to the house,” INA said, asserting that the Turkish airstrikes caused a state of panic among the Kurdish villagers.
Meanwhile, the official website of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said that "the Turkish airstrikes have continued during the past two days in many areas inside the region.”
The website of PUK, which is the region’s second-biggest party, also said that the Turkish bombardments have been carried out under the pretext of the presence of headquarters and positions of the Turkish outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkish forces frequently carry out aggressions, airstrikes, and artillery bombardments against the positions of PKK militants in northern Iraq, especially the Qandil mountains, the main PKK base.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.
Earlier this year, the Iraqi National Security Council has denounced a deadly drone strike by Turkey on the Arab country as a violation of good neighborly principles, saying the aggression poses a threat to Iraq’s national security as well as regional stability.
The council in August strongly condemned "the Turkish aggression on Iraqi lands and the targeting of Iraqi commanders.”
A Turkish drone bombed in August a military vehicle of the Iraqi border guards in the Sidekan area of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
Two border guard commanders and their driver were killed in the raid, the army said in a statement, marking the first Iraqi troop deaths since Turkey launched the cross-border operation in mid-June against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants.
"The Turkish warplanes bombed the edge of several Kurdish villages near the town of Zakho in the northern province of Duhok,” the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) said.
"One of the missiles landed near a house in the village of al-Rwaisi near Zakho and caused serious damage to the house,” INA said, asserting that the Turkish airstrikes caused a state of panic among the Kurdish villagers.
Meanwhile, the official website of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said that "the Turkish airstrikes have continued during the past two days in many areas inside the region.”
The website of PUK, which is the region’s second-biggest party, also said that the Turkish bombardments have been carried out under the pretext of the presence of headquarters and positions of the Turkish outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkish forces frequently carry out aggressions, airstrikes, and artillery bombardments against the positions of PKK militants in northern Iraq, especially the Qandil mountains, the main PKK base.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.
Earlier this year, the Iraqi National Security Council has denounced a deadly drone strike by Turkey on the Arab country as a violation of good neighborly principles, saying the aggression poses a threat to Iraq’s national security as well as regional stability.
The council in August strongly condemned "the Turkish aggression on Iraqi lands and the targeting of Iraqi commanders.”
A Turkish drone bombed in August a military vehicle of the Iraqi border guards in the Sidekan area of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
Two border guard commanders and their driver were killed in the raid, the army said in a statement, marking the first Iraqi troop deaths since Turkey launched the cross-border operation in mid-June against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants.