DHAKA: Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday US air strikes on militants in Iraq could cause a high number of civilian deaths and that Washington did not view such a strategy favourably.

‘America, with its current stance and the statements it has made, does not view such attacks positively,’ Erdogan told reporters in Ankara when asked about the possibility of US air strikes, according to The Straits Times.

‘There are (militant) ISIL elements which are mixed in with the people. Such an operation could result in a serious number of deaths among civilians,’ he said.

BDST: 1640 HRS, JUNE 19, 2014