Turkish troops repel Daesh attack at Bahiqa camp

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi accused Ankara last week of failing to respect an agreement to withdraw its troop deployment, while majority-Shi’ite Iraq’s foreign minister said Baghdad could resort to military action if forced.

Turkish troops repulsed an attack on Bashiqa Camp near Mosul late Thursday and killed at least 18 Daesh militants.

“Our armed forces there, our officers providing the training, are prepared for any kind of attacks or raids, or anything that happens”, said Erdogan.

The camp in Iraq’s Nineveh province, to which Sunni Muslim power Turkey has historic ties, is situated around 140 km (90 miles) south of the Turkish border.

But Baghdad-based U.S. military spokesman Steve Warren has declared the reports “Iranian disinformation” created to distract from Iraqi forces’ success against Islamic State elsewhere.

The deployment of some 150 troops into northern Iraq past year has been the subject of a dispute between Ankara and Baghdad.

“President Obama reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Iraq’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and called on Turkey to do the same by withdrawing any military forces that have not been authorized by the Iraqi government”, the statement read on Wednesday.

Sistani also said Iraq’s neighbours should not send any troops to Iraq “under the pretext of fighting terrorism”, except with the approval of the Baghdad government.

Following a series of bilateral talks to alleviate Iraq’s concerns, Turkey rearranged the number of its troops in Bashiqa on December 14, with the additional troops having been pulled back to rear positions. Militants linked with ISIL launched a rocket attack, killing several members of the Iraqi army and injuring several Turkish soldiers.