WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2007
U.S. Air Strike Kills 11 In Iraq
Military Says 6 Civilians Among Dead, U.S., U.K. Press Turkey To Forego Cross-Border Attack
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Kameela Abbas grieves for her husband, Yaseen Saleh, 70, who was killed while riding in a minibus that struck a roadside bomb near Baqouba, some 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Oct. 23, 2007. (AP Photo)
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, meets British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as he arrives at 10 Downing Street for a meeting, London, Oct. 23, 2007. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
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With stepped-up military costs running about $10 billion a month, President Bush raised his request for additional funds from Congress to pay for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the total for the coming year to $196.4 billion. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
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Interactive The Kurds And Northern Iraq Learn about the Kurdish people and their leaders, key cities in Northern Iraq and the potential for conflict with Turkey.
The suspected militants ran into a nearby house after the initial engagement and the Apache helicopter continued to fire at them, said Maj. Peggy Kageleiry, a military spokeswoman in the area.
Six civilians and five military aged men were killed. Five people were wounded and evacuated to a hospital in nearby Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, she said, adding it was unclear how many of the men were in the group who were allegedly planting the roadside bombs.
Kageleiry had said eight military aged men were among those killed but later revised the figure to five and said an investigation was under way.
She expressed regret for the deaths of the civilians but blamed the insurgents for putting their lives in danger by running into the house to escape attack by the U.S. forces.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that his country could not "wait forever" for the Iraqi government to deal with the threat posed by Kurdish separatists based in northern Iraq.
Speaking in London after a meeting with his British counterpart, Erdogan recognized northern Iraq as one of the most peaceful areas inside his neighboring country, and said for that reason "it is wrong to allow terrorist organizations to exist in that part of the country".
He said he had met with Iraqi officials repeatedly, asking them to crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged war against the Turkish state from bases inside northern Iraq.
"We have shown expectations with respect to what should be done about the terrorist organization in north… We waited for 14 months for this mechanism to bear fruit, and we cannot wait for ever. We have to make our own decisions," Erdogan said.
Erdogan was quoted Tuesday in the country's leading daily, Hurriyet, as saying U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had talked of a possible joint U.S.-Turkish operation against the rebels during a telephone call Sunday.
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U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband
Britain has backed the United States in trying to keep Turkey from crossing into Iraq to attack Kurdish rebels based there. The U.S. and others fear a Turkish attack could lead to widespread bloodshed in one of Iraq's few relatively peaceful areas.We continue to believe that cooperation and coordination between Turkey and Iraq is the most effective means to eliminate the PKK threat.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice andU.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband
At the joint news conference in London, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, "we condemn absolutely and unequivocally the terrorist violence of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party)."
On Monday British Foreign Minister David Miliband joined Rice in urging Iraq and Turkey to work together to deal with the outlawed PKK, Both the U.S. and Britain consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
Turkey's foreign minister rejected Tuesday any cease-fire by Kurdish rebels as he met with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad to press them to crack down on the guerrillas, as Turkish forces massed and tensions rose over the threatened military incursion.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said there are several ways to fight terrorism and Turkey would use them when appropriate.
"There are political dialogue, diplomacy, economic and cultural tools as well as military measures," he said at a joint news conference after meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
But he rejected any offer of a cease-fire by the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party.
"Cease-fire is possible between states and regular forces," Babacan said. "The problem here is that we're dealing with a terrorist organization."
Zebari called the crisis "complex and grave" and expressed hope that a diplomatic push would help stave off any incursion, which Iraqi and U.S. leaders have warned would threaten the relative peace in northern Iraq.
In other developments:
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