Kurdish civilians angry of Turkey's shelling

(19 Jun 2020) Locals in Keshani village in the Haftanin area of northern Iraq's Dohuk province expressed fear and anger on Thursday following a Turkish military operation in their area. Earlier this week, Turkey said it airlifted troops into northern Iraq for a cross-border ground operation against Turkey's Kurdish rebels. Several airstrikes hit farms and other sites around Keshani village in the past two days, residents said. The airborne-and-land offensive into the border region of Haftanin, some 15 kilometres (9 miles) from the Turkey-Iraq border, was launched following intense artillery fire into the area, said the Defense Ministry in Ankara. The operation by commando forces is being supported by warplanes, attack helicopters, artillery and armed and unarmed drones, according to the ministry's statement posted on Twitter. It did not say how many troops are involved. Turkey regularly carries out air and ground attacks against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which it says maintains bases in northern Iraq. Turkey has defended its past operations into northern Iraq, saying neither the Iraqi government nor the regional Iraqi Kurdish administration have acted to remove PKK insurgents who allegedly use Iraq's territory to stage attacks on Turkey. The ministry said Wednesday's operation, dubbed Operation Claw-Tiger, follows "increasing harassment and attempts to attack" military outposts or bases in Turkey. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...