[R-G] Turkish planes bomb northern Iraq

[Anthony Fenton]

Turkish planes bomb northern Iraq
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7146567.stm


Turkish warplanes have bombed suspected Kurdish rebel bases deep  
inside northern Iraq - in what appears the first time fighter jets  
have been used.

They targeted the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in areas near the  
border, officials said. The Turkish media said up to 50 planes were  
used.

Iraqi officials say bombs hit 10 villages, killing one woman, while  
the PKK reported seven deaths.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the air strikes as a "success".

"Our struggle [against the PKK] will continue inside and outside  
Turkey with the same determination."

Turkey has regularly targeted the PKK inside Iraq in recent months,  
but this is thought to be the first fighter jet raid outside its own  
territory.

Previous strikes had used artillery or helicopters.

'Comprehensive campaign'

The planes hit the regions of Zap, Hakurk and Avasin as well as areas  
in the Kandil mountains in an operation lasting three hours, the  
Turkish military said.

A "comprehensive air campaign" was carried out from 0100 on Sunday  
(2300 GMT Saturday), aimed at "terrorists" and "not conducted against  
people living in northern Iraq or local groups not engaged in enemy  
activity", it added.

One of the sorties hit an area near the Kandil mountains, a region  
further away from the border into Iraqi territory, and regularly  
cited by Turkey as a centre of PKK activity.

Cross-border artillery barrages followed from the town of Cukurca in  
Turkish territory, reports say.

Local officials in northern Iraq spoke of families fleeing their homes.

Pro-Kurdish media initially reported the death of one woman and the  
wounding of five other civilians in a village near the Kandil mountains.

The PKK itself reportedly announced on an internet site that five of  
its fighters and two civilians had been killed in the mountain area,  
with two fighters wounded.

"Many civilians, among them women and children" were also wounded,  
the group was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

There is no confirmation.

Bitter dispute

Ankara toughened its line against the PKK after a spate of rebel  
attacks inside Turkey that prompted widespread calls for action.

In October, Turkey's parliament voted to allow the military to launch  
operations into Iraq to combat the PKK, which had stepped up attacks  
in Turkey.

Ankara has massed up to 100,000 troops near the mountainous border  
with northern Iraq, backed by tanks, artillery and warplanes.

But Iraq and the US have urged Turkey not to carry out its threat.

As many as 3,000 PKK members are believed to be based inside northern  
Iraq. Turkey has accused the local Kurdish authorities of supporting  
them.