Civilian was killed by Turkish strikes in northern Iraq

Turkish bombardment killed a Kurdish shepherd in northern Iraq, a local official said Friday, the first known civilian victim of Ankara’s air and ground assault on the region.

“He was a shepherd in Bradost district and was killed at dawn Thursday in Turkish airstrikes,” the official from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region said.

On Wednesday, Turkey launched a cross-border operation into the mountainous terrain of northern Iraq where the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has rear bases.

In the airborne-and-land operation dubbed “Operation Claw-Tiger,” Turkey airlifted troops into northern Iraq on Wednesday to root out the PKK, which it says maintains bases across the border in Iraq.

Turkey regularly carries out air and ground attacks against the PKK in northern Iraq.

The operation by commando forces is being supported by warplanes, attack helicopters, artillery, and armed and unarmed drones into the border area of Haftanin, some 15 kilometers from the Turkey-Iraq border.

The ground operation was launched following intense artillery fire into the area on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry summoned Turkish ambassador and handed him a “strongly-worded memorandum calling for a halt to provocative actions.”

“We stress that Turkey must stop its bombardment and withdraw its attacking forces from Iraqi territory,” the ministry said in the statement.

“We affirm our categorical rejection of these violations,” it added.

More than 40,000 people have been killed during the three-decade conflict between Turkey and the autonomy-seeking militant group.