Mortar barrage targets Turkish consulate in Iraq's Mosul

BAGHDAD, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Several houses were damaged when six mortar rounds landed late Tuesday night near the Turkish consulate in Mosul, the capital of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, a source from Mosul police told Xinhua Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Mosul is some 400 km north of Baghdad.

The attack came after a suspected Turkish bombardment hit a Duhok resort in Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan on July 20, leaving nine civilians dead and dozens wounded. The Iraqi government accused the Turkish forces of carrying out the attack, a charge Ankara has denied.

Turkish forces frequently conduct ground operations, airstrikes, and artillery bombardments in Iraq's Kurdistan, especially the Qandil Mountains, the main base of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, the PKK has been rebelling against the Turkish government for over three decades.