Turkey bombing Northern Iraq

PanARMENIAN.Net - 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.



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.



The head of Turkey's military said last night it had US approval for the air strikes. "America last night opened Iraqi airspace to us. By opening Iraqi airspace to us last night America gave its approval to the operation," said General Yasar Buyukanit, BBC reports.