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300 Turkish troops go after Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq

By Times Wires
Published December 19, 2007

KIRKUK, Iraq - Turkey sent hundreds of troops about 1 1/2 miles into northern Iraq early Tuesday in an operation against Kurdish rebels but then withdrew them later in the day, Kurdish officials said.

The raid came two days after Turkey carried out airstrikes against rebel positions in the Iraqi Kurdish region of northern Iraq, and Turkey said it inflicted a "heavy blow" to the rebels.

The incursion of about 300 troops did not represent a large-scale push that some feared could destabilize a relatively calm part of Iraq. In November, the Turkish military reportedly massed 100,000 troops along the border.

Over the years, Turkey has staged brief, small-scale incursions into Iraq to chase Kurdish militants, and keeps a small contingent of special operations troops at an outpost there, but the army has not entered since the American invasion in 2003.

Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the regional Kurdistan government, told the Associated Press that the Turkish troops withdrew about 15 hours after entering Iraq about 3 a.m.

Late Tuesday, Turkey's military said it had inflicted heavy losses on a separatist Kurdish rebel group in airstrikes over the weekend and in a "small-scale" incursion by ground forces.

In a statement posted on its Web site, the military said ground forces based close to the border with Iraq, crossed "a few kilometers" into northern Iraq after spotting a group of rebels trying to infiltrate into Turkey. "A heavy blow was dealt to the group," it said.

The Iraqi government had called the incursion an unacceptable action that would lead to "complicated problems."

The Kurdish Workers' Party, or PKK, has battled for autonomy for southeastern Turkey for more than two decades and uses strongholds in northern Iraq for cross-border strikes.

"Iraq understands the threat the PKK represents, one that endangers Turkish security. But Iraq rejects any Turkish interference in Iraq," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said, adding that the Iraqi government was given no warning about the incursion.

Asked about the clash between Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels inside Iraq, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said: "From now on, whatever is necessary in the struggle against terrorism, it is being done."

Information from the Associated Press and New York Times was used in this report.

Fast facts

On related fronts:

- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was snubbed Tuesday by Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish Regional Government. He refused to meet with her, saying the United States gave Turkey a green light to attack Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq. It was the first open break between the United States and its Kurd allies.

- The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the U.S.-led, 160,000-strong multinational force in Iraq for one year.Iraq's prime minister said it is his "final request" for help.

-U.S. military commanders and diplomats in Iraq were angered at not being told Turkey was sending warplanes to bomb northern Iraq Sunday until the planes had already crossed the border.

Times wires

[Last modified December 19, 2007, 01:16:33]