Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi exports of crude oil continue flowing through Turkey despite the Turkish military operation against the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) guerrillas in northern Iraq, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said on Sunday. "I confirm that the oil exports are flowing normally to Ceyhanport and that the operations did not effect it," an official from the ministry's media office told Xinhua.

    "There is up to 350,000 barrels of crude oil per day exported through the Ceyhan port," the official said.

    On Friday, Turkey said that 10,000 of its troops were taking part in the cross-border offensive against hideouts of the banned PKK fighters in mountainous area in northern Iraq.