Iraq fears clash between Turkish troops and Peshmerga

BAGHDAD-Iraq fears that a prolonged Turkish incursion into northern Iraq could trigger clashes between Turkish troops and Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga security forces, the country's national security adviser said on Monday.Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said such fighting could have "very serious consequences" for a part of Iraq that has been relatively stable compared with the rest of the country.Ankara launched a ground incursion on Thursday in a remote part of Iraq's largely autonomous region of Kurdistan to hunt down Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels. The PKK uses the area as a base to stage attacks inside Turkey in pursuit of its goal of a Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey."The...longer Turkish soldiers stay inside Iraqi territory, the more likely this is going to happen," Rubaie told reporters in Baghdad when asked if he was concerned about clashes between Turkish and Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces breaking out."We need to avoid this at any cost. This has very serious consequences even if this happens by accident."A Kurdish security official said Turkish troops and PKK rebels clashed during the night in the Amadiya area, 10 km (6 miles) south of the border. He did not know if there had been any fighting on Monday.He said the Turkish military had shelled PKK targets on Monday, after launching several air strikes overnight.So far the battle-hardened Peshmerga have stayed on the sidelines of the Turkish military operation, which is taking place in a sparsely populated mountainous region. Kurdish officials regard the area as outside their control.
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As in the days of Noah....