Washington Post
December 17, 2007
Pg. 15
Turkish Planes Strike In N. Iraq
Assault Kills One As Hundreds Flee Kurdish Villages
By Sudarsan Raghavan and Dlovan Brwari, Washington Post Foreign Service
BAGHDAD, Dec.16 -- Turkish warplanes pounded Kurdish villages deep inside northern Iraq on Sunday, killing one woman and forcing hundreds of villagers to flee their homes in the largest aerial assault from Turkey this year, Iraqi officials said.
The early morning attack, confirmed by Turkey, renewed concerns of a major new front opening in the Iraq war.
The Turkish military said the United States approved the airstrikes. A U.S. spokesman in the Turkish capital of Ankara denied that, saying the United States had only been informed in advance that the strikes would happen, the Reuters news agency reported.
Turkish warplanes struck mountain hideouts of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, the Turkish military said on its Web site. The PKK is fighting for Kurdish autonomy and rights in Turkey.
Turkish military officials denied that the planes targeted civilians. But in interviews, Iraqi officials and civilians described the attack as intense and largely targeting villages in the Qandil mountains, which straddle the Iran-Iraq border and the area where the PKK is based. Shelling by Turkish artillery followed the airstrikes, they said.
Maj. Gen. Omar Sharif of the Iraqi border forces said more than 120 bombs and shells struck the area.
The attack "was so heavy, and started at 1 a.m. on Sunday and targeted villages and small bridges connecting them," said Pula Saleem, 45, who lives in Sidekan village. He recounted gathering his wife and five children and fleeing. "Most of the people left the village," he added.
In nearby Lawzi village, Farhad Hussein, 38, also left with his family. The attacks "set fires in many farms and destroyed many houses in my village," he said. "I will not return, because the Turkish forces started targeting the villages."
Turkish television stations reported that as many as 50 fighter jets took part in the operation. Roj TV, a television service aligned with the rebels, reported that five PKK guerrillas were killed, citing PKK sources. A PKK spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised the attack and indicated that more attacks would follow in the near future, according to Turkish news media reports. "This operation, which was carried out under night conditions, was a success," Erdogan said Sunday. The Turkish struggle against the PKK "will continue inside and outside Turkey."
This year, Turkey has massed more than 100,000 soldiers along the 170-mile border with northern Iraq, after a series of cross-border attacks by the PKK into Turkey.
The Bush administration has urged Turkey not to launch major operations in northern Iraq, one of the few relatively stable regions of the country. The arrival of winter in the rugged Kurdish mountains has reduced the likelihood of a major ground offensive.
This year, Turkey has periodically shelled Iraqi areas along the border, forcing hundreds of villagers to flee. "We call on the Turkish army to differentiate between the PKK and the ordinary people," Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the Kurdish regional government in Iraq, said in an interview broadcast by AP Television News. "We don't want the conflict between the Turkish troops and the PKK to turn into a conflict between the Turkish forces and the people of Kurdistan."
In Diyala province, north of Baghdad, armed men attacked two Sunni villages in the Khalis area, 14 miles north of the provincial capital of Baqubah, killing 17 people. Many former Sunni insurgents who had turned against the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq lived there, police said, adding that al-Qaeda in Iraq fighters were killed in the clashes.
The U.S. military reported killing six insurgents and detaining 23 suspects in weekend operations in central and northern Iraq.
Brwari reported form Mosul. Special correspondents Naseer Nouri, Zaid Sabah and Dalya Hassan in Baghdad and Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to this report.
December 17, 2007
Pg. 15
Turkish Planes Strike In N. Iraq
Assault Kills One As Hundreds Flee Kurdish Villages
By Sudarsan Raghavan and Dlovan Brwari, Washington Post Foreign Service
BAGHDAD, Dec.16 -- Turkish warplanes pounded Kurdish villages deep inside northern Iraq on Sunday, killing one woman and forcing hundreds of villagers to flee their homes in the largest aerial assault from Turkey this year, Iraqi officials said.
The early morning attack, confirmed by Turkey, renewed concerns of a major new front opening in the Iraq war.
The Turkish military said the United States approved the airstrikes. A U.S. spokesman in the Turkish capital of Ankara denied that, saying the United States had only been informed in advance that the strikes would happen, the Reuters news agency reported.
Turkish warplanes struck mountain hideouts of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, the Turkish military said on its Web site. The PKK is fighting for Kurdish autonomy and rights in Turkey.
Turkish military officials denied that the planes targeted civilians. But in interviews, Iraqi officials and civilians described the attack as intense and largely targeting villages in the Qandil mountains, which straddle the Iran-Iraq border and the area where the PKK is based. Shelling by Turkish artillery followed the airstrikes, they said.
Maj. Gen. Omar Sharif of the Iraqi border forces said more than 120 bombs and shells struck the area.
The attack "was so heavy, and started at 1 a.m. on Sunday and targeted villages and small bridges connecting them," said Pula Saleem, 45, who lives in Sidekan village. He recounted gathering his wife and five children and fleeing. "Most of the people left the village," he added.
In nearby Lawzi village, Farhad Hussein, 38, also left with his family. The attacks "set fires in many farms and destroyed many houses in my village," he said. "I will not return, because the Turkish forces started targeting the villages."
Turkish television stations reported that as many as 50 fighter jets took part in the operation. Roj TV, a television service aligned with the rebels, reported that five PKK guerrillas were killed, citing PKK sources. A PKK spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised the attack and indicated that more attacks would follow in the near future, according to Turkish news media reports. "This operation, which was carried out under night conditions, was a success," Erdogan said Sunday. The Turkish struggle against the PKK "will continue inside and outside Turkey."
This year, Turkey has massed more than 100,000 soldiers along the 170-mile border with northern Iraq, after a series of cross-border attacks by the PKK into Turkey.
The Bush administration has urged Turkey not to launch major operations in northern Iraq, one of the few relatively stable regions of the country. The arrival of winter in the rugged Kurdish mountains has reduced the likelihood of a major ground offensive.
This year, Turkey has periodically shelled Iraqi areas along the border, forcing hundreds of villagers to flee. "We call on the Turkish army to differentiate between the PKK and the ordinary people," Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the Kurdish regional government in Iraq, said in an interview broadcast by AP Television News. "We don't want the conflict between the Turkish troops and the PKK to turn into a conflict between the Turkish forces and the people of Kurdistan."
In Diyala province, north of Baghdad, armed men attacked two Sunni villages in the Khalis area, 14 miles north of the provincial capital of Baqubah, killing 17 people. Many former Sunni insurgents who had turned against the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq lived there, police said, adding that al-Qaeda in Iraq fighters were killed in the clashes.
The U.S. military reported killing six insurgents and detaining 23 suspects in weekend operations in central and northern Iraq.
Brwari reported form Mosul. Special correspondents Naseer Nouri, Zaid Sabah and Dalya Hassan in Baghdad and Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to this report.


