Ignoring calls to end capital punishment, Iraq executed six more convicts today. Fortunately, no other deaths were reported, but three people were wounded in Falluja. Also, Turkish warplanes staged strikes on suspected P.K.K. sites in northern Iraq.
Turkish news agency Dogan reported new Turkish incursions into northern Iraq. The agency claimed that over a dozen F-16 fighter jets bombed several Kurdish rebels locations near the Iraq-Turkey border and over on Mt. Qandil, which is close to Iraq’s border with Iran. Firat news, which has ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) confirmed the operation, and a rebel spokesman claimed that the P.K.K. bases had been abandoned after earlier strikes. The Iraqi government itself decried the insult to Iraq’s sovereignty.
Last week, Iraq said it would curtail these Turkish operations, but it does not have sufficient air power to be a threat to the Turkish military. Relations between the two countries have also become increasingly tense since Turkey gave refuge to fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi.
Six detainees were put to death just a day after Iraq executed 11 others. Today’s group included terrorists, murderers and kidnappers and brings the number of executions to 119 this year.
A bomb wounded three policemen in Falluja.
