All pre-designated outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets inside northern Iraq have been successfully hit during air strikes, the office of the Chief of Staff says while the Chief of Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt denies claims of civilian casualties. The Turkish military confirms that the operation proved its night-time air strike capabilitiesANKARA – Turkish Daily News
A day following the military's cross-border operation into northern Iraq to wipe out outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases, the military brass analyzed the results on the field as well as the operational capability of the Turkish Armed Forces.
The office of the Chief of Staff yesterday announced that all designated targets were eliminated, according to initial inspections. Warplanes hit the Kandil mountains and the Zap, Avaşin and Hakurk encampments and reached as far as 110 kilometers into northern Iraq to show that even the Kandil mountains are not beyond the military's reach.
Losses on the PKK side are still being calculated, and Turkish forces did not suffer any casualties. The Turkish military also tested its coordination skills for a comprehensive night-time air strike that involved F-16s that used the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night system for the first time (LANTIRN) and F-4s that provided cover. Laser-guided bombs were used against PKK targets, too. Chief of Staff General Yaşar Büyükanıt followed the whole operation from its headquarters. The office of the Chief of Staff handed out real-time camera images of bombings recorded by planes that laser pointed targets, as well as images on the results on the aftermath of the operation. The buildings hit by warplanes were mainly concrete structures, discernable from the regular mud-brick houses that remained intact.
The office of the Chief of Staff also said that targets were specified by giving utmost attention to civilian population. �Targets were added after sound confirmation that they were out of residential areas,� it said in a statement. �Not a single civilian target was hit,� said Büyükanıt yesterday, denying Iraqi Kurdish groups' claims that one woman was killed and villages were bombed.
PKK headquarters destroyedLocal reports confirmed that crucial PKK targets were hit and serious damage was inflicted. The private NTV channel said the PKK's central headquarters in Levje village was wiped out and six PKK members were killed, according to northern Iraqi Kurdish sources. The death toll of terrorists may be higher, as the local Kurds indicate that terrorists left mountaintops to settle in more convenient hillsides.
Büyükanıt urged the media to focus more on the message delivered by the operation rather than its results.
�Even if it's winter, even if there is snow, even if they live in caves, we'll find them and hit them,� he said. �These operations will continue all the time.�
Büyükanıt said that United States intelligence was used during the military's attack against terrorist targets. �America gave intelligence,� Kanal D television quoted Büyükanit as saying.
But more importantly, America last night opened [Iraqi] airspace to us. By opening the airspace, America gave its approval to this operation.
Washington will continue sharing intelligence
Concerning Turkish air strikes, the U.S. State Department said Washington respected Turkey's right to defend itself against the PKK terrorists.
"It's the Turkish decision. We respect Turkey's right to defend itself against terrorism," Chase Beamer, a spokesman for the State Department's European bureau told the Turkish Daily News."The PKK, as a common threat for Turkey, Iraq and the U.S. must be eliminated," Beamer said. He said the U.S. was committed to increased intelligence sharing with Turkey, as agreed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President George W. Bush at a White House meeting in early November.
"We understand that the targets were PKK targets. We understand that no villages were targeted," Beamer said.
Beamer said he could not confirm the reports about Iraqi claims of civilian casualties, but added that "of course, if there's any loss of life, it's a tragedy."
Suspicious armored vehicles seized
The Turkish military seized at the Habur border gate yesterday 18 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs) that are widely used by the American military in Iraq.
MRAPs were reportedly headed for �Olive Group,� an American private security firm operating in Baghdad.
The Turkish Military intelligence indicated that the vehicles were indeed sold by British Witham SP to Olive Group, but said they were about to be handed to peshmergas of northern Iraq instead. The Chief of Staff reminded that military vehicles could only pass through Turkish territory with a parliamentary motion.
Turkish Daily News, LINK
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