ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A mountain range in Sulaimani was bombed on Saturday morning, according to a local official, with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) media claiming Turkish warplanes bombed the area.
PKK media claimed Turkish warplanes bombed the Asos mountain range in the Sharbazher region of Sulaimani.
The mountain range last came under attack in August, according to Mawat Mayor Kamaran Hassan, who confirmed the Saturday attack.
“We are not fully sure if it was Turkey, however based on previous bombardments it would only make sense if it was Turkey,” Hassan told Rudaw English on Saturday, saying no casualties have been reported.
In August, Turkish planes bombed the Sharbazher region on multiple occasions. Turkish planes also attacked the Iranian Kurdish opposition group Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), killing seven members of the group.
Established in 2003, the PJAK is considered the Iranian wing of the PKK, but the PJAK claims it is linked only by shared ideology.
The PKK is an armed Kurdish group, seeking increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization and a threat to its national security. It frequently sends fighter jets, attack helicopters, drones, and ground troops across the border to fight the group.
Most of the PKK’s camps in the Kurdistan Region are located in Duhok province, which borders Turkey. Ankara frequently crosses the border with air and ground campaigns to pursue the PKK. However, areas in Sulaimani province at times come under attack by Turkey as well.
The attack on the Asos mountains comes as Turkey continues its operations against the PKK in Turkey and Duhok province.
In late April, Turkey launched Operations Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt against the PKK in the Metina and Avashin areas of northern Duhok, near the border. A goal of the operation was to establish a military base to block PKK movements between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey and Syria.
Duhok’s Kesta village was completely evacuated on Tuesday night after Turkish bombardment in the vicinity of the village intensified. Residents fled to nearby areas temporarily, waiting for the situation to deescalate.
Some villagers returned to Kesta on Thursday to collect furniture and other items.
“We are afraid to leave and we don’t even have a place to go. We have been displaced. We are heading to Brifka,” said villager Hawa Musa.
