DUHOK, Kurdistan Region – Hundreds of Kurdish villages on the border with Turkey in Duhok province live in constant fear of daily bombings of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) by Turkish warplanes, many fleeing and abandoning their destroyed homes. Abdulkarim Ismael is a resident of Qomrya village, one closest to the Turkish border. Because of the bombs this year his family could not celebrate Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. “Only 30 to 40 families are still living in the village. The rest have fled the area for fear of bombings and destructions by Turkey,” Ismael told Rudaw. He explained that the villagers have no longer any control over their daily lives. “We can’t even tend to our livestock,” Ismael added. Since the breakdown of peace talks between Ankara and the PKK last year dialing air strikes against the group’s positions in the Qandil and other mountains have been commonplace. In some areas many villagers have completely lost their source of life such as farms, livestock and orchards and taken shelter in nearby towns. The Kurdish group’s some 5,000 guerrilla fighters are mainly based in the remote and rugged mountainous on the border. The two villages of Narva and Rekan near the town of Amedi have also been the target of the Turkish jets where are strikes have left massive destruction. “I have lost hope to have a peaceful life because of the Turkish jets flying over us,” said a female resident of Rekan who has been living in the shadow of war for about two years. According to local officials, more than 361 villages in Duhok province are under the threat of Turkish bombings.
