Turkey strike kills 10 civilians in Iraq: Pro-Kurdish party
A pro-Kurdish party in Turkey says the country’s army has killed 10 civilians, including women and children, in an airstrike against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq, a claim denied by Ankara.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said in a statement on Sunday that the airstrike had targeted the northern Iraqi village of Zarkel over the weekend, and that a pregnant woman was also killed in the attack.
The HDP added that 15 others had been wounded in the attack.
However, the Turkish army denied the claim by the HDP, saying its warplanes had hit a “terrorist camp” on the Qandil Mountain in northern Iraq and not a civilian village.
After a review of the attack, the Turkish army said, “It was determined that no civilian locations were to be found in the vicinity affected by the bombing.”
Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has pledged to carry out a full investigation into the incident. A joint study is also expected to be conducted with the regional authorities in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
The official Anatolia news agency said on Saturday that the Turkish air campaign, which started last week, has killed 260 PKK fighters and wounded up to 400.
Ankara launched its airstrikes against alleged ISIL targets in Syria and PKK positions in Iraq following a deadly bombing attack in the Turkish town of Suruc on July 20, which left 32 people dead.
On July 24, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the country’s parliament to lift the immunity from prosecution of politicians with suspected links to the PKK.
The HDP has filed a criminal complaint against Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, saying 1,033 of its members have been detained in recent days.
The PKK, which seeks to gain self-rule, has been engaged in militancy in southeastern Turkey for decades. A shaky ceasefire between Anakara and the PKK that had stood since 2013 was declared null by the militants following the Turkish airstrikes against the group, narrowing chances of the two sides reaching a deal any time soon.
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