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Iraq denies Turkey's claims of Daesh raid

Saturday, 09 January 2016 9:17 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 09 January 2016 9:24 AM ]

A view of the Bashiqa camp in the Iraqi province of Nineveh (Photo by Turkey’s Anadolu Agency)

Iraq has rejected Turkey’s claims that its forces "illegally" deployed to the Arab country had come under attack by Takfiri Daesh terrorists.

"The joint operations command denies there was a terrorist attack on the position of Turkish forces in Bashiqa by the terrorist Daesh recently," Iraq's state television said, referring to a military base near Mosul.

On Friday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish forces had repelled an attempt by Daesh militants to infiltrate into their camp in the Nineveh province and killed 18 militants.

Erdogan said the alleged attack showed Turkey's decision to deploy troops to Iraq was justified.

However, the Iraqi TV said, "The joint operations command denies what was relayed in some media outlets from the Turkish president about clashing between the Turkish forces inside Iraqi territory and the terrorist Daesh whether in Bashiqa or any other areas."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (© AFP)

Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi accused Ankara of failing to respect an agreement to withdraw its troop deployment. Iraq's Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari said Baghdad could resort to military action if forced.

Ankara has acknowledged there was a "miscommunication" with Baghdad over the troop deployment.

It later withdrew some soldiers to another base in the nearby autonomous Kurdistan region and said it would continue to pull out of Nineveh but Erdogan has ruled out a full withdrawal.

Ankara claims the camp, some 140 km (90 miles) from the Turkish border and about 20 kilometers from Mosul, is being used to train Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga battling Daesh.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk