Turkish forces shelled northern Iraq this morning, a Kurdish government official said.
A spokesman for the Peshmerga security forces of northern Iraq said Turkish forces had shelled two areas in Dahuk province for two hours. There were no reports of any casualties or damage.
It was the first reported cross-border action since a bomb attack in the Turkish town of Diyarbakir on January 3rd, which killed six people. Turkish authorities blamed that attack on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas.
Turkish warplanes attacked PKK targets in the mountainous north of Iraq in December and troops also made small-scale cross-border raids. Turkey has also massed up to 100,000 troops on the border with Iraq.
Ankara blames the PKK, which is fighting for a separate Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey, for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people since it began an armed struggle in 1984.
Turkey claims some 3,000 PKK members are based in the mountains of northern Iraq.
