‘They were all covered in blood’: Family recount Kuna Masi airstrike

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Like any other normal day, Kaywan Kawa went to his shop in Sulaimani's Kuna Masi village on June 25, when a Turkish airstrike struck his store with his young family inside. 

"They were all covered in blood," Kaywan's mother said of the moment she arrived on the scene. "I rushed to my daughter-in-law, she had fainted. I then rushed to my son and saw he had a chest wound and was bleeding. In the distance I saw the children lying on the ground."

The strike targeted a pickup truck near the shop, injuring another two civilians and killing one Kurdish fighter. The Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Iranian Kurdish opposition group, announced last Friday in a statement that slain fighter belonged to them. 

"Before I arrived at the shop, a Toyota Hilux stopped nearby. A person got out of the car and went inside the shop before me. When I went there later, my wife told me that he asked for eggs. The man asked me to pack the eggs for him," Kaywan recounted to Rudaw. "While packing, I heard a sound and was thrown in the air. All I remembered was that my ribs hurt."

Turkey and Iran carry out air and ground attacks against both Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and PJAK on their borders with the Kurdistan Region, where the say the two groups seek safe haven.

The Kurdistan Region has come under assault from both Turkish airstrikes and Iranian artillery fire in recent week.s On June 15, Turkey launched an aerial and ground-based assault dubbed Operation Claw-Eagle and ground-based Operation Claw-Tiger on June 17 ,aimed at targeting suspected PKK positions across the Region and disputed territories.

Local officials in Duhok and Erbil provinces have reported at least five civilians killed amid Turkey's offensive.

Kaywan 30, his daughter Hamisha 7, and Heshwan, 6, have been sent back home to rest upon doctors orders.

But Kaywan's wife Sayran is still in the hospital for treatment after having her left leg amputated.

In a statement released last Friday, the Turkish defense ministry denied that its military has ever harmed civilians, and said it only targets "terrorists." 

On the same day, Iraq's presidency denounced "violations affecting national sovereignty as a result of the repeated Turkish military operations and its violation of Iraqi airspace, which killed a number of unarmed civilians," in a statement published on Twitter.

Turkey's foreign ministry responded that the Iraqi presidency's statement "depended on untrue claims." 

This is the third time that Kaywan's family have been caught up in Turkish airstrikes, including twice in the 1960s and 70s.

"Towards the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s, we came under airstrikes. One time it targeted my brother who still has shrapnel in his back. One year later, my sister was hit and she still has shrapnel in her body," Kaywan's uncle, Khalid Salih told Rudaw.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has called for both Turkey and militants in the area to disengage from its territory.

"We call on the Republic of Turkey to respect the sovereignty of our land and homeland, and the PKK must leave these areas in order not to cause chaos on the Kurdistan Region's bordering areas," a KRG spokesperson said on June 18.

Reporting by Horvan Rafaat in Kuna Masi