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Tensions run high on the Turkey-Iraq border

— Photo: AFP

TAKING POSITIONS: Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels storm a hilltop during military exercises in the mountains of northern Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region in this 2006 file photo.

DUBAI: Tensions are running high on Turkey’s border with Iraq following the killing of 12 Turkish soldiers by Kurdish militants based in northern Iraq.

Fighters belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claim they have taken “several” soldiers hostage. The PKK militants crossed the mountainous border into Turkey after midnight and ambushed troops near the village of Daglica in Hakkari province, said the Turkish military.

The armed group attacked with heavy weapons, triggering a swift Turkish response. Turkish troops backed by helicopters launched a retaliatory attack, killing 23 guerillas.

The PKK sources also confirmed that there was fighting, but said more Turkish troops were killed than the official figure of 12.

“There were clashes with the Turkish troops late Saturday night in which we have killed at least 16 soldiers and wounded 20. We also captured several,” Reuters quoted PKK sources as saying.

Violence also gripped parts of the south-eastern Hakkari province, where 10 civilians were injured after a minibus was blown up in a landmine explosion, blamed on the PKK.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recalled his security officials to Ankara for an emergency meeting. “We are very angry,” the Prime Minister was quoted as saying, but added that he was “resolved to deal with these matters in a cool-headed manner.” He also urged the media to exercise restraint while reporting the situation.

The Turkish Parliament on Wednesday had passed a motion authorising the movement of Turkish forces into northern Iraq to eradicate PKK militant strongholds.

Responding to the Turkish move, Iraqi leaders have said they are determined to dislodge the PKK, provided they had more time.

DPA reports from Baghdad:

The leader of Iraq’s Kurdish Autonomous Region said on Sunday the province’s troops would not be part of the conflict but confirmed his people’s right to self-defence.

“We will not be part of the ongoing conflict between Turkey and the People’s Workers of Kurdistan (PKK) but if we are directly affected by the conflict and if the province of Kurdistan is affected, we will defend ourselves,” Masud Barzani was quoted as saying by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq.

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