Duhok villagers mourn Turkish airstrike death
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — These men in Amedi, Duhok province are mourning the loss of 24-year-old Democrat, killed in a Turkish airstrike targeting a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) checkpoint in Duhok province on Friday.
Democrat's father says he feels powerless to effect change.
"We can’t do anything, no one does anything for us," Democrat's father Omar Ismael said. "We can’t send our voices to the state, we’re poor and they don’t do anything for us. If they had done something, things wouldn't be like this. Turkey’s can't just bomb a poor, unarmed man who went to the mountain to collect some wood. It’s also not the PKK's right to come to our lands. We need to be able to go [to the mountains] in our free time, they have to help us."
Shiladze sub-district routinely sees waves of its inhabitants flee Turkey-PKK warfare. Turkey's latest air and ground offensive has sent villagers to relative safety of nearby towns and cities.
"Some of the villagers have fled to the town of Shiladze, the rest to Duhok," Shiladze mayor Warshin Barwari said. "If there were no threats to villages, people would be busy farming and raising livestock, or working in the tourism sector."
At least five civilians in the Kurdistan Region have been killed since Turkey launched Operation Claw-Eagle, an air campaign with the stated aim of targeting bases belonging to the PKK, on June 15. Four of the civilians died in two separate Turkish airstrikes on Duhok province on Friday.
An official in the Kurdistan Region-Turkey border town of Zakho confirmed that Turkish aircraft resumed airstrikes on the town on Saturday night.
As part of its Operation Claw-Tiger ground campaign, Ankara has deployed further commando units into the Kurdistan Region, Turkey's defense ministry announced on Sunday.
Reporting by Ayub Nasri
Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed
Democrat's father says he feels powerless to effect change.
"We can’t do anything, no one does anything for us," Democrat's father Omar Ismael said. "We can’t send our voices to the state, we’re poor and they don’t do anything for us. If they had done something, things wouldn't be like this. Turkey’s can't just bomb a poor, unarmed man who went to the mountain to collect some wood. It’s also not the PKK's right to come to our lands. We need to be able to go [to the mountains] in our free time, they have to help us."
Shiladze sub-district routinely sees waves of its inhabitants flee Turkey-PKK warfare. Turkey's latest air and ground offensive has sent villagers to relative safety of nearby towns and cities.
"Some of the villagers have fled to the town of Shiladze, the rest to Duhok," Shiladze mayor Warshin Barwari said. "If there were no threats to villages, people would be busy farming and raising livestock, or working in the tourism sector."
At least five civilians in the Kurdistan Region have been killed since Turkey launched Operation Claw-Eagle, an air campaign with the stated aim of targeting bases belonging to the PKK, on June 15. Four of the civilians died in two separate Turkish airstrikes on Duhok province on Friday.
An official in the Kurdistan Region-Turkey border town of Zakho confirmed that Turkish aircraft resumed airstrikes on the town on Saturday night.
As part of its Operation Claw-Tiger ground campaign, Ankara has deployed further commando units into the Kurdistan Region, Turkey's defense ministry announced on Sunday.
Reporting by Ayub Nasri
Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed