Turkish warplanes struck Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq overnight and some 500 soldiers have crossed the border with armoured vehicles, military and security sources told Reuters on Tuesday, in an escalation of hostilities. The Turkish forces were advancing towards a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) camp at Haftanin, around 20 km (12 miles) from the Habur border post and north of the town of Dahuk.
The sources described it as the busiest military activity along the border since the Turkish army launched cross-border activities last week in response to a PKK attack on Turkish forces which killed 24 soldiers in Hakkari, bordering Iraq. Warplanes bombed PKK targets at Haftanin and Hakurke, the sources said, adding that tanks and armoured vehicles crossed into northern Iraq on Monday. Several hundred PKK fighters are believed to be based at Haftanin. The remoteness of the camps’ locations and the tricky terrain made it difficult to assess how close the Turkish forces had moved towards the camps but the militants reported the start of clashes. “Around 1,000 Turkish troops infiltrated today the village of Haftanin, supported by Turkish fighter jets and helicopters,” said PKK spokesman Roj Welat. “Clashes erupted between Turkish troops and PKK fighters who tried to stop the Turkish forces,” he said. There were no reports of casualties. Haftanin is further west than the Zab valley region, across the border from Hakkari, where Turkish military operations took place last week.
It is also far to the west of the Qandil area, where the main PKK camps are located, close to Iraq’s border with Iran. Several thousand PKK fighters are based in the mountains of northern Iraq, from where they launch attacks on Turkish forces in southeast Turkey. According to a resident, about 1,000 Turkish troops were located around the village of Ure, less than 5 km (3 miles) from the Turkish border and about 50 km west of Haftanin. Ure is a district of Zakho in Dahuk province.
