Dramatic footage captured by villagers showed two helicopter gunships firing in the close proximity of villages. Civilians are heard screaming as volleys of bullets from heavy machine guns on the helicopters hit the slopes just outside the village.
Turkey said three of its soldiers were killed in the clashes that occurred on the border area when members of PKK attacked an outpost in the Sherwan Mazin region in Erbil province, bordering Turkey’s Hakkari province. These rugged mountains in the border areas have been used for decades by the PKK to infiltrate into Turkey and launch attacks on Turkish security forces.
The mountainsides along the border were covered with fog when clashes broke out mid-afternoon near a collection of villages part of Sherwan Mazin town, on the Kurdistan Region side of the border, according to an eyewitness.
"I was busy studying when I heard gunfire in the afternoon,” Zeravan Ahmed, 20, told Rudaw English via telephone. He witnessed Turkish helicopters firing on the suspected PKK militants near Kanyalinj village in the same area. “People were terrified, especially when the helicopters started firing.”
The clash started at 2.30 pm Saturday afternoon, according to Kuvan Rashid, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) administrator in the area. Rashid, the mayor of Sherwan Mazin told Rudaw English that the fighting started along the border and the Turkish army backed by helicopter gunships pursued the militants into several villages in the area. "In the beginning only light weapons were used, but later Turkey used a Cobra helicopter to counter the PKK attack," said Rashid.
The heaviest clashes occurred near Chama village.
Turkey’s National Defense Ministry announced that three soldiers were killed after PKK launched mortar attacks from the Kurdistan Region into Hakkari province, state-run Anadolu Agency said. Defense Minister Hulusi Akar claimed that 23 PKK militants were killed in the pursuit and vowed to continue the fight against the PKK “with great determination.”
Graphic: Sarkawt Mohammed / Rudaw
For the last four decades that the PKK has carried out its struggle against the Turkish state, the mountains between Iraq, Iran, and Turkey have become a safe haven for the guerrillas to escape the wrath of the Turkish army. However the fighting has forced most of the residents in Sherwan Mazin to abandon their villages and move deeper into the Kurdistan Region to avoid being caught up in the war. “Out of 72 villages only 18 are inhabited now,” Rashid, the mayor of Sherwan Mazin area with a population of just under 5,000, told Rudaw English.
The fighting sees no sign of abating as the melting of the snow ushers in a new wave of attacks by both the PKK and the Turkish army, which has started moving into Kurdistan Region territory where it is building outposts to block PKK access to the bordering provinces.
There were no casualties among the civilian population, the official confirmed.
"Every year the environment of our region burns due to cross-border shells and airstrikes and fighting," said Rashid. "This year we expect much, much worse [damage] to happen given that this year's rainfall has boosted the environment."
He is also concerned about the PKK moving among the local population, which could draw Turkish fire into civilian areas. "Maybe one day a Turkish helicopter will come and bomb us as well," he said.
The PKK has its headquarters in the Kurdistan Region’s mountains. Turkey frequently carries out ground and air offensives against alleged PKK positions.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil has called on the PKK to withdraw in order to protect the civilian population. The Iraqi government in Baghdad has condemned Turkish military incursions across the border, but has been unable to compel Ankara to stop.
