The Pentagon Monday refused to give a clear picture on its role in Turkey's air raid on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq Sunday.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said at the daily press briefing that the United States did pass on some "actionable information" to Turkey on the whereabouts of Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
But it is still unclear that whether Washington gave Turkey precise targets used in the raids or gave Turkey prior approval to use Iraqi air space to conduct the strikes.
Whitman did not address these issues.
On the other side, the Turkish military earlier said the Pentagon had given tacit approval by opening Iraqi airspace for the operation.
The Iraqi government summoned the Turkish ambassador and demanded a halt to the strikes, saying they were unacceptable and could seriously harm relations between the two countries.
Recently, Turkey has launched several cross-border attacks into Iraq, in a bid to root out the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels, who was said to use northern Iraq as a base for attacks against Turkey.
The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in southeast of Turkey.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.
Source: Xinhua
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