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The Turkish
sources cited local sources as saying 17 Islamic State militants
were killed in an attack on the Bashiqa camp in Nineveh
province, about 140 Km (90 miles) from the Turkish border.
Turkey deployed a force protection unit of around 150 troops
last month citing heightened security risks near Bashiqa, where
its troops are training the Iraqi militia to fight Islamic
State, and stirring a diplomatic row.
Iraq has objected to the deployment and Iraqi Prime Minister
Haider al-Abadi accused Ankara last week of failing to respect
an agreement to withdraw the troops. Iraq's foreign minister
warned Baghdad could resort to military action if forced.
Iraqi security forces have had only a limited presence in
Nineveh province, where the camp is located, since collapsing in
June 2014 in the face of a lightning advance by Islamic State.
Ankara has acknowledged there was a "miscommunication" with
Baghdad over the deployment.
It later withdrew some troops to another base inside the nearby
autonomous Kurdistan region and said it would continue to pull
out of Nineveh province, where Bashiqa is located; but President
Tayyip Erdogan has ruled out a full withdrawal.
(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Nick Tattersall;
Editing by Humeyra Pamuk and Ralph Boulton)
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