Turkish army fires at Duhok villagers, injuring two: official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish army on Friday fired at residents of Kesta village in Duhok province with heavy weapons, injuring two women, chieftain of the village told Rudaw.

Omed Kestayi, chieftain (mukhtar) of Kesta village in Amedi town, told Rudaw’s Haydar Doski on Friday that Turkish troops from a nearby military base shelled inside the village earlier in the day, injuring two people. 

The soldiers from the military base which overlooks the village shelled inside the village with DShk, a Soviet heavy machine gun, for about half an hour. As a result, two women were injured.

The injured have been hospitalised but it is not clear if their wounds are serious or not.  

Turkey frequently targets the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (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. 

A father and his son were injured in Duhok province’s Darkar subdistrict on Wednesday after the Turkish army bombarded the vicinity of their village. The incident followed intense clashes between the army and the PKK fighters. https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/150620221 
 
PKK is an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. It is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara. 

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. 

Updated at 7:30pm