At least nine civilians, including children, have been killed in a Turkish attack on a park in the autonomous northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi informed Turkey in an unusually sharp response that Iraq reserves the right to retaliate. He called the shelling a “blatant violation” of Iraqi sovereignty.
According to the authorities, the victims include Iraqi tourists who sought refreshment in the hilltop village of Parakh. Turkey is said to have fired on the village twice. More than twenty people were injured.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein visited survivors at a hospital in the city of Zakho after the Turkish shelling of the tourist resort.
The Turkish government in Ankara calls the attack on the park a possible terror attack and says it is ready to take all measures to find out the truth.
In April, Turkey launched an offensive in northern Iraq. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack was aimed at the Kurdish resistance movement PKK.
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