Turkish warplanes struck the border of Sidakan sub-district “targeting a PKK headquarters,” said Sidakan Mayor Ihsan Chalabi.
A second strike hit the outskirts of Bola village, causing material damage, Chalabi added.
Hakim Yaseen is from Bola village. He was not at home this morning but his family told him that there was a lot of damage to houses in the village and trees were burned.
“This was the fifth or six such attack in these areas,” Yaseen said. “The explosion was very strong. All the shrapnel and rocks hit the village.”
Turkey frequently carries out cross-border ground and air offensives against alleged positions of the PKK, an armed group fighting for greater rights for Kurds in Turkey and has bases in the Kurdistan Region. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization. In April, Turkey launched the twin operations Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt in northern Duhok against the PKK.
Iran also targets Kurdish opposition groups within the Kurdistan Region’s borders.
There have been more than 400 military incursions into the Kurdistan Region so far this year, endangering innocent civilians, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) coordinator for international advocacy Dindar Zebari said on September 22, without naming any nation or group. Sidakan was one area of concern where Zebari said airstrikes and artillery fire have hit in populated areas.
Civilian populations and the environment have been severely damaged by the Turkey-PKK conflict. Thousands of acres of land have been scorched, and people’s houses and livestock have been hit.
Landmines are also a hazard in the Sidakan area. One person was injured in an explosion in April.
The KRG has repeatedly called on Turkey to respect its sovereignty and for the PKK to cease using Kurdistan Region territory to launch attacks on its neighbor.
