2008 Turkish Incursion Into Northern Iraq - Winter Bombing Campaign

Winter Bombing Campaign

Turkey launched its first cross-border raid on December 16, 2007, involving 50 fighter jets. A Turkish military statement said that up to 175 militants were killed on that day alone, while Iraqi officials reported that the strikes had targeted 10 villages and killed one civilian. The PKK reported seven deaths.

On December 26, the Turkish General Staff said Turkish military aircraft bombed eight PKK bases in northern Iraq in a raid undertaken after "it was determined that a large group of militants, who have been watched for a long time, were preparing to pass the winter in eight caves and hideouts in the Zap region," the statement said.

On January 10, 2008, Turkish warplanes bombed PKK hideouts in northern Iraq, the military announced, but there were no reports of casualties or serious damage.

The Turkish military said in a statement on February 4 that Turkish fighter jets struck nearly 70 PKK targets in northern Iraq in a series of strikes.

The president of Kurdish region of northern Iraq, Massoud Barzani, condemned Turkey's raids and warned Ankara to stop the strikes, and the Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who is a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), expressed concern that "unilateral actions" could harm Iraqi and Turkish interests.

According to the Turkish General Staff's estimates, there were 300 PKK militants in the region prior to the incursion and the General Staff claims that 240 militans were killed.