Kurds warn against attack on civilians

Baghdad: The Kurdish president on Saturday warned Turkey it will face "large-scale" resistance if it targets civilians in its ground incursion into Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels.

The offensive started late on Thursday after aircraft and artillery blasted suspected rebel targets.

The size and scope of the assault has been difficult to confirm, with media reports saying as many as 10,000 Turkish soldiers could be involved.

President Massoud Barzani's office warned in a statement that the regional government would not stand by if the Turks struck civilians.

"The regional government of Kurdistan will not be a part of the conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK fighters. But at the same time we stress that if the Turkish military targets any Kurdish civilian citizens or any civilian structures then we will order a large-scale resistance," it said.

The Iraqi government said on Saturday that fewer than 1,000 Turkish troops had crossed the frontier. Government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said Turkish commanders had assured Iraq that the "operation will be a limited one and it will not violate certain standards that they have set". Al Dabbagh said Iraq's president and prime minister had spoken to Turkish officials.

"We know the threats that Turkey is facing but military operations will not solve the PKK problem. Turkey has resorted to military options, but this never resulted in a good thing," Al Dabbagh said.

Sky-Turk television said about 2,000 Turkish soldiers were in Iraq, operating against rebel camps about 3-4 kilometres in from the border. NTV television said a total of 10,000 soldiers were inside Iraq in an operation that had extended 10km past the frontier.