#Iraqi #condemns #Turkey #attack #Kurdistan #kills #civilians
Nine civilians, including at least two children, were killed Wednesday at a park in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region by artillery fire that Baghdad blamed on neighboring Turkey, a country involved in a cross-border offensive.
In an unusually harsh rebuke, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi warned Turkey that Iraq reserves the “right to retaliate” and called the artillery barrage a “blatant violation” of sovereignty.
Turkey launched an offensive in northern Iraq dubbed “Operation Claw-Lock” in April, targeting Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters.
The victims included Iraqi tourists who had come to the mountain village of Parakh in Zakho district to escape the oppressive temperatures further south in the country, according to Mushir Bashir, the head of the Zakho region.
“Turkey hit the village twice today,” Bashir told AFP.
A source in Turkey’s Defense Ministry said it had “no information reporting or confirming artillery fire in the area.”
The artillery strikes killed nine and injured 23, Zakho health official Amir Ali told reporters. He had previously put the number at eight dead, including two children.
– ‘Body in the water’ –
Outside a hospital in Zakho, Hassan Tahsin Ali spoke to AFP with a bandage around his head.
He said he was lucky to survive the torrent of fire that fell on the park and its water features, where visitors had been relaxing.
“We come from the province of Babylon,” said the young man in a slow voice.
“We were attacked indiscriminately, there were bodies in the water,” he added. “Our youth are dead, our children are dead, who shall we turn to? We have only God.”
The Iraqi prime minister dispatched the country’s foreign minister and senior security officials to the site.
“Turkish forces have once again committed a flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty,” Kadhemi said on Twitter, condemning the damage done “to the lives and safety of Iraqi citizens.”
“Iraq reserves the right to resist these attacks and take any necessary measures to protect our people,” Kadhemi added.
Dubbed a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies, the PKK has been leading an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Arbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, has complicated relations with the PKK as its presence in the region hampers key trade links with neighboring Turkey.
As part of the military operations, the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad was regularly summoned to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
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