Turkish troops leave camp near Iraq's Mosul

Ankara, Dec 14: Turkish troops deployed in Iraq began to leave a camp near Iraq’s city of Mosul on Monday, the media reported. A convoy of nearly 10 vehicles left the Bashiqa Camp and travelled to another region in Iraq, Xinhua reported. The transfer came after Iraq’s strong reaction to the deployment of the Turkish troops to Bashiqa, which Ankara says was aimed at training forces fighting Islamic State (IS) militants. Baghdad appealed to the UN Security Council on Friday, repeating its demand of an immediate and unconditiol withdrawal of all Turkish troops from northern Iraq, calling Turkey’s military incursion a “flagrant violation” of intertiol law. Iraq’s foreign ministry said Turkish forces had entered Iraqi territory without the knowledge of Baghdad, which viewed their presence as a “hostile act”. (IANS)