ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s National Security Council on Wednesday night held an emergency meeting chaired by the prime minister and demanded the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Iraqi lands alongside several other directives following a deadly bombardment in Zakho.

The council meeting led by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi decided that Turkey must “submit an official apology and withdraw its military forces from all Iraqi lands,” and issued seven further decisions, a statement from Kadhimi’s office reads.

Other decisions issued in the meeting were the need to cooperate with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to prevent further attacks and the summoning of the Turkish ambassador to Iraq, as well as preparing a report on the repeated Turkish violations of Iraqi sovereignty.

The council also “renewed its refusal for the land of Iraq to be a launchpad for attacking any country” and condemned the presence of armed groups, likely referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on its lands.

A deadly bombardment struck a tourist resort in Duhok’s Zakho province on Wednesday afternoon, claiming the lives of at least eight, including a one-year-old child, and injuring dozens of others. All victims of the attack came from central and southern Iraqi provinces.

Turkey denied responsibility for the attack and asked Iraqi government officials not to make preliminary statements, instead blaming the PKK for perpetrating the deadly attack.

The bombardment was strongly condemned by senior Iraqi officials as well as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), who attributed the attack to Turkey.

Iraqi officials in particular, namely Kadhimi, President Barham Salih, and top Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, firmly criticized Turkey for the tragedy with Sadr even calling for the reduction of diplomatic ties with Iraq’s northern neighbor as well as the closure of air and land crossings.

Spokesperson for Iraq's foreign ministry Ahmed al-Sahaf also told Rudaw that Iraq would make its “harshest” response yet.

Ankara frequently targets the PKK in the Kurdistan Region and launched an operation, dubbed Claw-Lock, against the group in the mountains of Duhok province on April 18. The operation is the fourth stage of Turkey’s Claw operations against the PKK in the Kurdistan Region, with the first being launched in 2019.

The recent Turkish military operation across its southern border into the Kurdistan Region has been labeled as a “hostile” and “provocative” violation of Iraqi sovereignty by Baghdad officials.[1]