Turkey denies that it bombed the tourist resort in Iraq.
Eight tourists were killed and 23 others wounded in a Turkish attack on a mountain resort in Iraq’s northern Dohuk province, Iraqi state media said on Wednesday.
“Heavy artillery shelling” hit a resort in Zakho, a town on the border between Iraq’s Kurdistan region and Turkey, state television said.
Among the victims were children, including a 1-year-old, the Kurdish health minister said in a statement, adding that all the victims died before reaching the hospital.
“We go to the mountain, there are attacks. We go to the waterfall, there is a blow. We go from this side, there are rockets,” said Mustafa Aala, 24, who was at the resort with a friend when the attack happened.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said Ankara was saddened to hear of the casualties in the attack and added that Turkey took utmost care to avoid civilian casualties or damage to historical and cultural sites in its operations against terrorism and the outlawed militia of the Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK) and others.
“Turkey is ready to take any step for the truth to come out,” the ministry announced in a statement, adding that Turkish military operations were in accordance with international laws.
Separately, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement that two PKK militants had surrendered at a Turkish security checkpoint at the Habur border crossing with Iraq, which is about 10 km from Zakho, but did not mention the attack.
Turkey regularly carries out airstrikes in northern Iraq and has sent commandos to support its offensives as part of a long campaign in Iraq and Syria against Kurdish PKK militants and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.
Otherwise, Ankara considers both as terrorist groups while many countries consider them as such.