PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN from UK and French combat aircraft of the Kurdish safe haven in northern Iraq have been made available to the Turkish military. Its forces launched the largest-ever incursion into northern Iraq on 20 March in pursuit of Kurdish PKK guerrilla fighters.
The Royal Air Force and US European Command confirm that "...tactical and operational information is shared" with the Turks at the Operation Provide Comfort task force headquarters at Incirlik AB and through NATO channels, mainly in air-defence radar and airborne warning and control systems.
British Aerospace Harrier GRs and French Sepecat Jaguar crews have conducted daily photographic sweeps of the "safe haven" since the end of the Gulf War, as part of the Coalition air effort to protect the Kurds from attack by Saddam Hussein's forces. Additional information is available from NATO airborne-early-warning aircraft operating in the area.
"The reports we compile are sent to the headquarters of the Combined Task Force at Incirlik and Strike Command in the UK," says the RAF. Turkish officers serve in all levels and departments of the CTF headquarters.
Since the start of the Turkish offensive on 20 March, which involved heavy close-air support from Turkish Lockheed F-16s, McDonnell Douglas F-4s and Bell AH-1Ws, Provide Comfort aircraft have been grounded, to prevent "friendly-fire" incidents and because of the political sensitivity of the Turkish offensive.
Source: Flight International
