Kurdish PKK terrorist group that is fighting for an independent Kurdish state. Zebari, himself a Kurd of Mr. Barzani’s Kurdish Democratic Party, decried the infrastructure damage and a lack of coordination and notification concerning the attacks. He said five bridges, including an important bridge over the Zab river, had been damaged despite previous Turkish assurances to Iraq that they would not damage infrastructure in their on-going battles with the PKK. He said Iraq had not been informed about the attacks.It should be noted that the American White House acknowledged that the U.S. had been informed of the attack ahead of time but had urged restraint on the Turks. This will undoubtedly put some strain on the recently established arrangement under which Iraq, Turkey, and the United States share intelligence on the activities of the PKK.
The attack started just before noon on Thursday with a multi-hour air and artillery bombardment of suspected PKK facilities in isolated areas of northern Iraq. The attack reportedly caught the PKK completely by surprise and Turkey said more than a score of guerrillas were killed in the bombardment and many leaders were noted to be fleeing the border region to the south. Turkey has never before conducted a major operation against the PKK in mid-winter. Both sides usually sit out the winter and resume their operations when the snows melts in the spring.
Just after dusk, Turkish troops crossed the border on land. Some were also transported by helicopters into the rugged, snow covered mountains. Fighting has been centered around Hakurk and Sidekan, just south of the Turkish border town of Cukurca. Additional fighting has been reported in and around Bamerni, which is about 25 miles further west.
Turkish press reports say as many as 10,000 troops were involved in the multi-day operation but Zebari said only several hundred had crossed into Iraq. In what may have been an attempt at deception, the Turkish news also announced the return of their troops to their barracks on Friday, but afterwards Turkish artillery attacks resumed that evening and some fighting has been reported on Saturday.
Turkey claimed to have killed at least 79 members of the PKK and to have lost five soldiers in the fighting. The PKK say they have killed 24 Turks and had five of their fighters wounded. Given that much of the fighting has taken place by aerial and artillery bombardment, it is safe to say that neither side has a good idea of what damage they have inflicted on the other side. Turkey said nearly 4,000 PKK fighters had been in winter camps in the otherwise mostly uninhabited and inhospitable terrain.
