UN Security Council to hold urgent session on 'Turkish aggression', Iraq says

Baghdad accuses Ankara of shelling that killed nine at a holiday spot in northern Kurdish region on Wednesday

• 

  Iraqi mourners pray over the caskets of a woman and her niece, killed in artillery bombardment of a Kurdish hill village, at their funeral at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf. AFP

• 

  Iraqis mourn a victim killed in an alleged Turkish bombing in Dohuk city. EPA

• 

  Protesters pray near the old Turkish embassy building during a demonstration against an attack on a mountain resort in Dohuk. Reuters

• 

  An Iraqi police car hit during clashes between protesters and riot police. AFP

• 

  Security forces stand guard near the old Turkish embassy building in Dohuk. Reuters

• 

  Police clash with demonstrators in Dohuk. Reuters

• 

  Honour guards carry the coffins of victims, who were killed in an attack on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern province of Dohuk, at a funeral ceremony at Baghdad International Airport. Photo: Iraqi Prime Minister's Media Office

• 

  Funerals take place at Baghdad Airport. Photo: Iraqi Prime Minister's Media Office

• 

  Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhemi and Iraqi officials arriving to take part in a ceremony at the Baghdad Airport. Photo: Iraqi Prime Minister's Office

• 

  President of the Kurdistan region in Iraq Nechirvan Barzani carries the coffin of an Iraqi killed in an attack on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern province of Dohuk. Reuters

• 

  The coffins of victims killed in a Kurdish hill village in an attack blamed on Turkey, are lined up on the tarmac before being flown to their respective cities from the airport in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdish autonomous region. AFP

• 

  A coffin is carried aboard a military plane for repatriation, at the airport in Erbil, Iraq. EPA

• 

  Mr Barzani attends the funeral ceremony at Erbil International Airport of those killed in the Dohuk attack. Reuters

• 

  A father stands near an ambulance transporting a coffin of his daughter who was killed in the attack on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern province of Dohuk. Reuters

• 

  An ambulance transports a coffin of an Iraqi who was killed in what Iraq claims was a Turkish attack on a mountain resort in the northern province of Dohuk. Reuters

• 

  Iraqis chant slogans demanding the expulsion of the Turkish ambassador outside the Turkish visa office in Baghdad, during a demonstration following the attack. AFP

• 

  Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks to the media after visiting those wounded by shelling at a hospital in Zakho in Iraq's Kurdish region. Nine civilians including children were killed on July 20 by artillery fire that Baghdad blamed on Turkey, a country engaged in a cross-border offensive. AFP

• 

  Abdul Ameer Al-Shammari, deputy commander of Iraq's military Joint Operation Command, and Mr Hussein inspect the site of the attack in Dohuk. Reuters

• 

  Baghdad accused Ankara of carrying out the strike in Dohuk. Reuters

• 

  Riot police and protesters face off in front of a building belonging to the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad. The Turkish flag was taken down during a demonstration against the attack. Reuters

• 

  Demonstrators gather in front of the Turkish visa application centre in Najaf as they protest against the attack. Reuters

• 

  The cross-border offensive left nine civilians, including two children, dead, and 23 others were wounded. Reuters

• 

  A riot police officer stands in front of a building belonging to the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad during a demonstration. Reuters

• 

  Iraqi security forces take up positions in front of a Turkish visa centre in Karbala during a demonstration against Ankara's military offensive in Iraq's Kurdistan region. AFP

• 

  Gen Mohammed Al Bayati, the Iraqi prime minister's secretary, gives a statement after visiting the wounded at the hospital in Zakho in Iraq's Kurdistan region. AFP

• 

  A wounded man awaits further treatment at a hospital in Zakho after the attack. AFP

• 

  Saman Barzanji, centre, Health Minister in the Kurdistan Regional Government, visits the wounded at a hospital in Zakho. AFP

• 

  People gather outside a hospital in Zakho after Turkey shelled a mountain resort in Iraq's Kurdistan region. AFP

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session on Tuesday to discuss Wednesday’s bombardment in northern Iraq that Baghdad blames on Turkey, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein has said.

The attack on a tourist resort in the district of Zakho in Iraq’s northern, semi-autonomous Kurdish region killed nine holidaymakers, including a child, and wounded 31 others.

Iraq's government has blamed the assault on Turkish troops, who have launched incursions against the proscribed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, inside Iraqi territory since the 1980s. Ankara has denied it was behind the attack and instead accused the PKK.

After a complaint filed by Iraq to the UN Security Council, an urgent session has been scheduled for Tuesday, Mr Hussein told the Iraqi Parliament.

Saturday’s Parliament session was held to discuss the “Turkish aggression” in Iraqi territory, the legislative body statement said.

Mr Hussein denied any agreement with Turkey's government to send troops to Iraq and said there was a one-year deal between Baghdad and Ankara in 1984 to allow Turkish troops to enter no more than 5 kilometres, the statement said.

Since 2018, Iraq has registered more than 22,700 breaches by Turkey against Iraq's sovereignty, resulting in the issuing of 296 diplomatic notes of protest by the Foreign Ministry, Mr Hussein said.

The attack enraged both the government and the public in Iraq.

After the bombardment, Baghdad summoned Turkey's ambassador to Iraq, handing over a “strongly worded" protest note, while thousands of Iraqis took to the streets in protest.

Baghdad demanded Turkey withdraw its troops from the country and stopped plans to appoint an ambassador in Ankara.

The protesters took down the Turkish flag from the old embassy building, which is still used by the diplomatic mission, and closed all visa application centres in Baghdad and several cities, mainly in the south.

On Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Al Sahaf said the ministry had recalled Iraq's charge d’affaires from Ankara.

The PKK has sought greater autonomy and more rights for Turkey's Kurds in the south-east of the country. The armed conflict between the two sides began in 1984.

The group, declared a terrorist organisation by Turkey and the West, has for decades maintained bases in northern Iraq and launched cross-border raids. In return, Turkey has been launching airstrikes and ground operations inside Iraq to rout the rebels.

The recent escalation threatens to further erode ties between the neighbouring countries at a time when Iraq relies heavily on Turkish trade and negotiations are under way on water-sharing of the Tigris and Euphrates river basin.

The presence of Turkish troops has caused tension between Iraq and Turkey, which attempts to justify its incursions into Iraqi and Syria by citing its fight against the PKK.

Turkey has maintained a major outpost Iraqi territory since 2016 at Bashiqa, about 75 kilometres from Erbil, and in April began one of its largest military operations in the country's north against the PKK, called Operation Claw-Lock.

There is no official tally of the number of Turkish troops in Iraq but some Kurdish and Iraqi officials estimate the number in the low thousands.