PKK claims Turkish helicopter in Iraq, death toll rises (2nd Roundup)

Feb 24, 2008, 15:31 GMT

This handout picture made available on 24 February by Turkish General Staff shows a Turkish soldier manning a dug-out in the snow during an operation at an unspecified place over the border into Iraq on 24 February 2008. Turkish troops have launched a ground incursion across the border into Iraq in pursuit of separatist Kurdish rebels, the military said Friday a move that dramatically escalates Turkey\'s conflict with the militants. EPA/HO

Ankara/Baghdad - Some 33 Kurdish rebels and eight Turkish soldiers were killed in fighting in northern Iraq Saturday night and Sunday as the separatist Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) claimed a helicopter downed in Duhuk province in Iraq's Kurdish Autonomous Region had been shot down by their fighters.

The latest casualties brought the death toll from the operation, which began on Thursday night, to 112 PKK guerrillas and 15 Turkish soldiers, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement posted on its website on Sunday afternoon.

The statement said the figure did not include those fighters killed by helicopter gunships, airstrikes or artillery barrages.

'The clashes are continuing in three different regions. Our units' operations in difficult terrain and weather conditions will continue with the same bravery and determination until they reach their planned targets,' the statement said.

According to the statement a helicopter had 'gone down' inside Iraq near the Turkish border, but it was not known why. Specialist technicians had gone to the site, it said.

The PKK had earlier claimed it had shot down a Cobra attack helicopter in Sham Gihu, 65 kilometres north-east of Duhuk's Amadiyah region. PKK spokesman Ahmed Denees told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the fate of the crew remained unknown as the helicopter was shot down over a rugged mountainous area.

Denees denied Turkish casualty figures, instead saying that 24 Turkish soldiers had been killed since Turkish troops crossed the border on Thursday.

'We are still fighting the Turkish army and using guerrilla warfare against it. They could not have killed such a big number of rebels as the front is not big enough,' Denees told dpa.

The Turkish military said on Sunday PKK fighters were in panic and it had military intelligence that a number of PKK guerrillas had been killed in infighting. The statement also said the PKK were booby trapping bodies of their dead comrades.

Turkish newspapers on Sunday reported that Turkish commandos, backed by attack helicopters and warplanes, had destroyed a base in Zap and that PKK fighters were fleeing the border regions.

It remained unclear how many Turkish troops are involved in the operation to clear northern Iraq of PKK camps. Turkish media reported between 2,000 and 10,000 soldiers having crossed the border.

Meanwhile, the prime minister of Iraq's Kurdish Autonomous Region, Nechirvan Barzani, on Sunday urged the United States to intervene and end the crisis sparked by the Turkish military operation.

The region's leaders sent an urgent letter to US President George W Bush asking him to mediate, the Voices of Iraq news agency quoted Barzani as saying at a press conference in the capital Arbil.

Barzani criticized inaction by the central government in Baghdad.

'Regretfully, many foreign countries took a stronger position towards Turkey's incursions than the Iraqi government. It is embarrassing for us because it was a petty position,' the prime minister said.

'Turkey is an important neighbour that stood by us in hardship. None of the population of the region has been directly harmed by the offensive,' Barzani said. 'But if any citizen is hurt, we will defend ourselves.'

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates Sunday urged Turkey to keep its incursion as short as possible and retreat immediately after the mission is accomplished.

Gates, speaking to reporters in Canberra after talks with Australian government officials, said Iraq's sovereignty was important but that Turkey had suffered attacks by PKK insurgents in which Turkish soldiers and civilians had been killed.

'The first thing that is important is regular dialogue and openness between the Turkish government and the Iraqi government and, I would say, also the government of Kurdistan in terms of their intentions, their concerns, their plans and their activities,' he told reporters.

'In terms of the current operation, I would hope that it would be short, that it would be precise and avoid loss of innocent life and that they leave as quickly as they can accomplish their mission.'

Gates said he did not see the incursion as a threat to Iraq's stability.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith was more strident in his criticism of Turkey, saying it was imperative that Iraq's sovereignty be respected.

'The Turks should respect Iraq's sovereignty and they should retreat back over the border as soon as possible,' Smith said. 'We believe, as the US administration expressed yesterday through Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, that those Turkish troops should withdraw as soon as possible.'