ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) Advisor said the Turkish airstrike on Mount Shingal which left five Peshmerga soldiers dead and nine others wounded “was a surprise” and that they had asked Ankara for “clarification” with regards to the incident. Speaking to The New York Times, Masrour Barzani also said “this was the first time they have been bombing there. They had been mostly bombing border areas.” Barzani said they had “asked for some clarification but have not received any answers yet.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said prior to the attack, they had “informed the US, Russia, northern Iraq and [Kurdish President Masoud] Barzani,” of the attack on Mount Shingal, in an interview with Reuters at the presidential palace in Ankara. Pointing the finger of blame at the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which prompted Turkey to bomb the location as Ankara had repeatedly called on the PKK to leave Shingal, Barzani said, “the PKK is the reason for all of these problems. They are the reason the Turks are bombing. It is not a matter of whether we like it or not. The PKK is dragging the Turks in.” The five Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers were killed Tuesday morning and several others wounded in Turkish air strikes as their base was close to a location used by members of the PKK-affiliated group. US has urged Turkey to respect the territorial sovereignty of Iraq and focus on ISIS. "The Coalition is aware of the Turkish airstrikes in Northern Iraq and Syria. As we've said in the past, all of Iraq’s neighbors need to respect Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Laura M. Seal, a Department of Defense spokesperson told Rudaw on Tuesday evening. The Turkish president defended the strikes, saying: "We are obliged to take measures. We must take steps.” Erdogan said he regretted the death of several members of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, making it clear that Turkey's action was "absolutely not an operation against the Peshmerga." “The operations will continue until the terrorists have completely been eliminated.” The Iraqi government for its part called on Turkey to respect Iraq’s territorial sovereignty. “Turkey shouldn’t violate the Iraqi sovereignty,” Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a news conference.
