Turkey military says air strikes in Iraq successful

By Selcuk Gokoluk

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes hit all their targets in weekend raids against Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq, the General Staff said on Monday.

Officials in northern Iraq have said the planes bombed villages, killing one woman and forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes, but Turkey said it struck only targets where there were no civilians.

The United States, which fears major military action in the region could destabilize one of the most peaceful parts of Iraq, has said it was informed of the attacks in advance although it did not authorize them. The European Union expressed concern and urged Turkey to show restraint.

Ankara believes 3,000 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas are based in camps in northern Iraq from where they stage deadly attacks into Turkey.

The Turkish army has up to 100,000 troops near the border, ready to conduct cross-border operations against the PKK.

The three-hour offensive, reported to involve 50 fighter jets, also included ground forces shelling suspected PKK positions in northern Iraq.

"Work is continuing on assessing the damage at the targets as a result of the successfully completed operation. According to initial valuations, all the planned targets were hit accurately," said the statement on the General Staff Web site.

The General Staff released black and white video footage of precision air strikes against suspected PKK targets.

The military did not give details of casualties or targets but Turkish media said they included a PKK communications centre in the Qandil mountains and other important PKK camps.

DEADLY ATTACKS

The government has come under domestic pressure to act tough after a series of deadly attacks against Turkish army posts in recent months.

Analysts doubt airstrikes will crush the PKK, but say they are symbolically important.

Iraq summoned the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad and protested against the bombing. News outlets linked to the outlawed separatists said five PKK guerrillas were killed.

The General Staff statement rejected claims that civilian targets were struck.

"All the targets were identified as a result of a precise and detailed analysis and were added to the target list after it was established that they were definitely not civilian residential areas," it said.