Turkish troops ‘kill 21 PKK fighters’ in Iraq
Hundreds of Turkish commandos have attacked Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. Officials say they have killed 21 PKK fighters in an offensive to avenge the deaths of 24 Turkish soldiers.
The Turkish military said it had put troops from 22 battalions into the field for ground attacks in five different areas on either side of the border, and had also launched air strikes.
Security officials estimated their forces, numbering about 1,000 inside Iraq, had killed 21 fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey’s leaders have vowed revenge after one of the worst losses of life suffered by the army when PKK guerrillas mounted a series of deadly night-time raids on army outposts in Turkey’s mountainous southeast on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan confirmed an initial campaign against the PKK militants had begun, but said the theatre of operations was limited to specific areas.
“Air and ground operation are underway; our aim is to take the first step in the designated coordinates,” Erdogan said.
What next?
There is speculation that the operation could herald a full-blown incursion, as happened in 2008 when some 10,000 Turkish troops swept into northern Iraq.
Such a prospect adds to concern over instability in the region.
US troops are due to withdraw from Iraq this year and mutual neighbour Syria is in the grip of a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
In Cukurca, one of the districts attacked by the PKK, it was quiet on Thursday, with little sign of military movement apart from half a dozen helicopters passing overhead.
The strong stand taken by Turkey against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown has raised some speculation that Damascus might retaliate by stirring up Kurdish militants in Turkey.
Read more: Where next for the Arab Spring?
Erdogan has been careful not to blame the attack on any country. But the Radikal newspaper said that a Syrian Kurdish commander, Fehman Huseyin, had led the attacks.
Both Syria and Iran have their own problems with restive Kurdish minorities, but nothing on the scale of the insurgency led by the PKK in Turkey.
Iraqi officials joined US President Barack Obama, Ankara’s Nato allies and the European Union in condemning the attack.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday saying that the Iraqi government and the autonomous Kurdish Regional Government in the Iraqi north were committed to “maintaining border security and security cooperation with the Turkish government to prevent such acts being repeated”.