By NNN-KUNA
Baghdad : The Iraqi government has said that Turkish artillery and warplanes have bombarded areas of northern Iraq and called on Turkey to stop military operations and reconsider returning to dialogue.
The bombardment, as claimed by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari Thursday, occurred amid rising tension and Turkish threats to strike bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been launching attacks against targets in Turkey from sanctuaries in Iraq.
The bombardment struck areas of the northern province of Dahuk, some 430 km northwest of Baghdad, with about 250 shells fired into Iraq from Turkey. No casualties on the Iraqi side were reported.
Iraq's government condemned the latest shelling of its semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, and manifested that by submitting a protest memo to the Turkish Foreign Ministry by the Iraqi ambassador in Ankara, urging Turkey to hold talks to resolve concerns regarding PKK rebels who are based in the border area.
The Iraqi government called for ceasing these operations and resorting to dialogue, Iraqi government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh said, insisting that Iraq wanted good relations with Turkey.
Earlier, Kurdish guerrillas staged a bomb attack against a military vehicle, killing two soldiers and wounding six others near the Iraqi border, the state-run Anatolia News Agency said.
Washington says it is working with Turkey to combat the PKK but that it is focused on combating insurgents opposing US forces.
The PKK has escalated attacks this year, killing around 70 soldiers so far. More than 110 rebels were killed during the same period.
Turkey has been battling the PKK since 1984 in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Â