Iraq complained Monday that Turkey hadn't coordinated with Baghdad before sending dozens of warplanes to bomb Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq - the largest aerial attack in years against the outlawed separatist group.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the fact Iraqi civilians were killed in Sunday's attack showed Turkey hadn't hit the right target.
"What happened yesterday was based maybe on misinformation," he said.
Iraq summoned the Turkish ambassador Sunday and asked Ankara end raids "that cause harm to innocent people."
Turkey's military chief said the U.S. gave intelligence and tacit approval for Sunday's predawn raid in which fighter jets bombed suspected rebel positions close to the border with Turkey and in the Qandil Mountains, which straddle Iraq and Iran. But Zebari said the Iraqi government had expected Turkey to coordinate with it before striking the rebels inside Iraq.
An Iraqi official said the planes attacked several villages, killing one woman. The rebels said two civilians and five rebels were killed. Turkey insisted the strikes were aimed at rebel targets and not at the civilian population.
The U.S. Embassy in Iraq refused to comment Monday on the Turkish general's assertion U.S. officials had given Turkey permission to enter Iraq's air space.
As many as 50 fighter jets were involved in the airstrikes, Turkish media reported. Turkey has recently attacked the area with ground-based artillery and helicopters and there have been some unconfirmed reports of airstrikes by warplanes.
The attack came a month after the U.S. promised to share intelligence with Turkey to help combat the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK and Turkey's military chief, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, said U.S. intelligence was used.
"America gave intelligence," Kanal D television quoted Buyukanit as saying. "But more importantly, America last night opened (the Iraqi) airspace to us. By opening the airspace, America gave its approval to this operation," he said.
On Oct. 31, the U.S. Defense Department said it was assisting the Turks in their efforts to combat the PKK by supplying them with "lots of intelligence." The Pentagon had no further comment Sunday on whether it had a role in the airstrikes.
Turkey's military Monday was assessing the damage caused to the PKK. Private NTV television said at least one rebel command center in Qandil was destroyed in the strikes. The mountain is a base for the PKK's leadership council and a network of camps, although some reports have suggested the rebels may have abandoned their bases in anticipation of attacks.
Journalists were barred from entering the stricken areas, but some managed to sneak into the small village of Qlatooka, in Qandil, where bombs had destroyed a school and some homes.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lauded the operation and suggested Turkey could stage more attacks on PKK hide-outs in northern Iraq.
The pro-Kurdish news agency Firat, citing the PKK, said two civilians and five PKK rebels were killed. The airstrikes destroyed two schools and a hospital, it said, adding the hospital had been vacated in anticipation of a Turkish attack.
Firat said the rebels responded to the raids with antiaircraft artillery units.
The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in the predominantly Kurdish southeast since 1984. Turkey's government has come under intense pressure to hit rebel bases in Iraq, following a spate of PKK attacks.
Turkey has massed tens of thousands of troops along its border with Iraq. In October, parliament voted in favor of authorizing the government to order a cross-border operation against the group.
Turkish forces have periodically shelled across the Iraqi border, and have sometimes carried out 'hot pursuits' - limited raids on the Iraqi side that sometimes last only a few hours. The U.S. and Iraq have, however, called on Turkey to avoid a major operation, fearing such an offensive could disrupt one of the most tranquil regions in Iraq.