Iraq protests Turkish shelling, says 'war planes' involved

Above: F-16s of the Turkish Air Force, one of the oldest air forces in the world. Turkey operates one of the largest combat aircraft fleets in NATO, while Iraq's air force is virtually nonexistant.

Turkey's army heavily shelled Kurdish rebel targets just inside the border of northern Iraq on Wednesday, Kurdish officials said on Thursday.

Iraq's government condemned the latest shelling of its semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and urged Turkey to hold talks to resolve Ankara's concerns about rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who are based in the border area.

Jabar Yawer, deputy minister for security forces in Iraq's Kurdistan, said about 100 shells were fired around the town of Zakho in northern Iraq. No one was hurt but many residents were forced to flee, he told Reuters.

The barrage followed the killing of three Turkish soldiers when their vehicle hit a rebel landmine near the border with Iraq, he said...

The Iraqi government, without specifying dates, said it "regrets Turkish military operations that are using artillery and war planes to bomb Iraqi border villages and cities in Dahuk province."

Read the rest at Reuters

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