The Iraqi government accuses Turkey of being behind the artillery shelling. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi called the shelling “a blatant violation” of Iraq’s sovereignty. He said in unusually sharp terms that Iraq reserves the right to strike back.
Turkey launched an offensive in northern Iraq in April, aiming to strike at the Kurdish PKK guerrillas. A source in the Turkish Ministry of Defense says he has no reports of artillery shelling in the area in question.