Turkey airlifts troops into northern Iraq to fight Kurds

Turkey airlifted commando forces into Iraq's northern Kurdistan region on Wednesday in what Ankara called an assault targeting the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and its allies. Turkey's Defense Ministry said the incursion, 9 miles into Iraq, followed intense artillery fire and involved fighter jets, attack helicopters, and drones. Turkey sent warplanes into the region on Monday, the first stage of "Operation Claw-Tiger," but this is the first known airborne-and-land offensive inside Iraq, The Associated Press reports.

Iraq's Defense Ministry called on Turkey to "halt these violations and avoid repeating them and respect the bilateral relations between the two countries" in a statement Monday, then summoned Turkey's ambassadors on Tuesday, but neither the PKK nor Baghdad had yet responded to this new invasion, AP says. Turkey's Defense Ministry justified the incursion by citing the PKK's "increasing harassment and attempts to attack" military installations inside Turkey.

The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Ankara as well as the U.S. and EU, has been fighting Turkey since 1984, in a conflict that has cost more than 40,000 lives. The organization is separate from America's Syrian Kurdish allies, also under assault by Turkey.

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