Turkish warplanes bomb north Iraq

ANKARA- Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq early yesterday, Turkey’s military said, the first such confirmed attack since the US-led invasion of Iraq.

An Iraqi official said the planes attacked several villages, killing one woman. The fighter jets hit rebel positions close to the border with Turkey and the Qandil mountain, which straddles the Iraq-Iran border and is 100 kilometres from the frontier between Iraq and Turkey, the military said in a statement posted on its Web site.It said the operation was directed against the rebels and not against the local population.The rebels’ leadership council is based on Qandil and the group has a network of camps around the mountain.The attack came a month after the United States promised to share intelligence with Turkey about the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which seeks autonomy for the Kurdish minority in southeastern Turkey and has hideouts in northern Iraq.All planes returned to their bases safely and the army continued firing on the targets with long-range weapons, the military said.Artillery units fired shells toward Iraq from the town of Cukurca, where the borders of Turkey, Iran and Iraq meet, footage from the private Dogan news agency showed.Private NTV television said some 50 warplanes were involved in the airstrikes.Turkey has previously hit Iraqi territory with ground-based artillery and with helicopters.Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek urged Kurdish separatists to surrender and said Turkey would press ahead with operations against rebel bases in northern Iraq “with determination when necessary.””We are making a call on members of the terrorist organisation,” Cicek told the state-run Anatolia news agency.”You cannot reach anything or achieve any results through this path.Come, while there’s still time, return to your mothers, your fathers and your families.”Turkey is considering amending a law that pardons PKK rebels who have not been engaged in fighting and who turn themselves in.The government has acknowledged that the current amnesty has not had much success.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday congratulated Turkey’s military.Nampa-APThe fighter jets hit rebel positions close to the border with Turkey and the Qandil mountain, which straddles the Iraq-Iran border and is 100 kilometres from the frontier between Iraq and Turkey, the military said in a statement posted on its Web site.It said the operation was directed against the rebels and not against the local population.The rebels’ leadership council is based on Qandil and the group has a network of camps around the mountain.The attack came a month after the United States promised to share intelligence with Turkey about the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which seeks autonomy for the Kurdish minority in southeastern Turkey and has hideouts in northern Iraq.All planes returned to their bases safely and the army continued firing on the targets with long-range weapons, the military said.Artillery units fired shells toward Iraq from the town of Cukurca, where the borders of Turkey, Iran and Iraq meet, footage from the private Dogan news agency showed.Private NTV television said some 50 warplanes were involved in the airstrikes.Turkey has previously hit Iraqi territory with ground-based artillery and with helicopters.Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek urged Kurdish separatists to surrender and said Turkey would press ahead with operations against rebel bases in northern Iraq “with determination when necessary.””We are making a call on members of the terrorist organisation,” Cicek told the state-run Anatolia news agency.”You cannot reach anything or achieve any results through this path.Come, while there’s still time, return to your mothers, your fathers and your families.”Turkey is considering amending a law that pardons PKK rebels who have not been engaged in fighting and who turn themselves in.The government has acknowledged that the current amnesty has not had much success.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday congratulated Turkey’s military.Nampa-AP