IRAQ: As diplomacy continues, witnesses in northern Iraq say bombs have started falling along Turkish-Iraq border

Tensions continue to rise in northern Iraq as local residents voice fear over shelling that has become routine in recent days. Reuters television pictures on Monday (October 22) showed smoke rising from hills in northern Iraq. Local residents found fragments of rockets on the ground and one farmer described how he had been unable to take cover. "We came to our farms to check our land and take some fruit and vegetable to the market. Suddenly the bombs started falling. We were there on the farm and could not run away, fortunately no one was injured, God bless us," said farmer Ismael Hussan. Firing along the Turkish-Iraqi border has become routine in recent weeks. Turkish tanks could also be seen in positions on Turkish bases which had been established in the area several years ago. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, said that Kurdish rebels fighting Turkish troops will announce a ceasefire on Monday evening. "America is trying to delay the attack and the PKK has taken a wise move and said that they will announce a ceasefire this evening. They will also withdraw their units from the conflict area with the Turkish army and God willing peace and stability will prevail in the region," Talabani told journalists at Sulaimaniya airport before leaving for Baghdad. The United States pressed the Iraqi government and Kurdish leaders to move quickly to stop Kurdish rebel attacks against Turkey and said on Monday it did not want to see the conflict widen along the border. But the Iraqi government has little control over the largely autonomous northern region and analysts say the United States must pressure Iraqi Kurds to take action against the rebels to avoid further escalation with Turkey.

ITN Source | October 23, 2007

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