Iraq's Kurdistan condemns Turkish bombing in northern Iraq

The government of Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan on Saturday condemned Turkey air strikes on targets of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq that killed eight people and wounded 10 others, the Kurdish presidency said.

"We condemn this bombardment that led to the martyrdom of people and demand the Turkish government not to bombard the civilians again," the regional presidency said in a statement.

The statement came after Turkish warplanes bombarded villages in Qandil mountain which left eight citizens and PKK fighters killed and 10 others wounded

Most of the human casualties occurred in the village of Zarkeli in Rawanduz area in east of the regional capital city of Arbil, which located some 350 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

"The PKK fighters must keep the battlefield away from Kurdistan region in order the civilians not to be victims of this war," the presidency statement said, adding that going further with this war would affect civilians, urging both the Turkish government and the PKK militants to resume peace process.

Turkey recently launched an offensive against Islamic State (IS) militants and PKK rebels, including air strikes and artillery shelling against them in Syria and Iraq.

On July 24, Turkish jets bombed northern Iraq for the first time in the last two-and-a-half years, after a peaceful settlement for the Kurdish issue in Turkey was reached between Ankara and the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan in March 2013. Endit