ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A father and his son were injured in Duhok province’s Darkar subdistrict on Wednesday after Turkish army bombarded the vicinity of their village, mayor of Darkar told Rudaw.
Nazir Omer Yousef, 51, and his 24-year-old son, Mohammed, were irrigating their orchard in Parakh village when a bomb hit near them. Both were injured due to shrapnels.
“We came under bombardment while we were irrigating our orchard,” the father told Rudaw’s Yousif Mousa at a hospital, adding that this is not the first time their village has come under bombardment. He was injured in his left thigh.
Mohammed was injured in the left hand. He said: “All I can remember was that I heard a sound and found myself on the ground, bleeding.”
The incident followed intense clashes between the Turkish army and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the area.
Dlsher Abdulsattar, mayor of Darkar, told Rudaw that the bomb was fire by Turkish amy.
The bomb “was definitely fired by the Turkish army as far as we know,” he said, adding that the injured people have told him the same. He also said they are investigating the incident.
According to the mayor, 30 families live in the village and more houses are being built.
“Parakh village is a populated village and there are 30 families. More people are moving there and more houses are being built. There are no PKK guerillas inside the village,” he noted.
PKK is an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. It is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
Turkey frequently targets the PKK fighters in the Kurdistan Region and sometimes this has led to civilian casualties. However, Ankara has repeatedly said that it does not target civilians.
The Turkish army launched a military offensive against the PKK in Duhok province in April. Dubbed Operation Claw-Lock, the air and ground campaign heavily focuses on mountainous areas on Turkey’s borders with the Kurdistan Region.
Two children were killed in Duhok province’s Zewa village late May during clashes between Turkey and the PKK. Most of the local authorities blamed the PKK for the deaths while the mukhtar of the village and families of the deceased blamed the Turkish army. The Kurdish group later denied the accusation.
