BAGHDAD, May 17 (Reuters) - The
government of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region accused Turkish
forces of shelling an area inside Kurdistan (northern Iraq) on
Wednesday.
Khaled Salih, a senior official of the Kurdish regional government
in Arbil, said by telephone that no one was hurt when three shells
slammed into a mountainous area close to the town of Kani Masi a few
km (miles) inside Iraq.
"A village ... has been bombarded from the Turkish side. There were
no casualties, but there was material damage," Salih told Reuters.
"This is the second time in a week villages have been bombarded in
the north."
"We will report this to the government in Baghdad so that they can
contact the Turkish government and ask for an explanation," he said.
Ankara traditionally launches a spring offensive against Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas in southeastern Turkey, an area which
borders Iraq.
Salih said there were no PKK fighters in the area where the shells
landed.
Earlier this month, villagers in Iraq's Kurdistan accused
neighbouring Iran of hitting targets inside Iraq, a charge Tehran
denied.
The PKK, seeking a Kurdish homeland including southeastern Turkey,
accuses Ankara and Tehran of mounting coordinated operations against
the group and its Iranian wing, PJAK.
Turkey and Iran are wary of the autonomy Iraqi Kurds have
consolidated since the 2003 Iraq war and fear it might lead to more
unrest among their own large Kurdish population.
Reuters
Southeastern Turkey: Northern Kurdistan (Kurdistan-Turkey)
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