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Kurdistan
Smoke rises after shelling hits the village of Kashkani, Duho province on April 22, 2021. Photo: submitted to Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkish shelling struck 500 metres from homes in a village in Zakho's Batifa sub-district on Thursday, a mukhtar (chief) told Rudaw.
Shelling on the village of Kashani lasted for an hour on Thursday afternoon, village mukhtar Hassan Kashani told Rudaw.
"Some of the shelling landed as close as 500 metres from peoples' homes," Kashani said.
There were no casualties as a result of the attack, the village chief added, but locals have been left shaken.
Airstrikes took place earlier in the afternoon on the village of Kaniatu, an administrative official who did not want to be named told Rudaw.
Batifa, located in Duhok province, is regularly struck by Turkish bombardments, with the latest taking place last month after a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attack on a Turkish military base in the area.
Earlier this month, Turkey conducted airstrikes on Mount Matin in Duhok province. The Turkish defence ministry said it killed five PKK fighters in the bombing.
The PKK is a Kurdish armed group which has fought for increased rights for Turkey's Kurdish minority for decades. It is designated a terrorist group by Ankara. Its headquarters are in the Kurdistan Region's Qandil mountain range.
Villages in Batifa were left without water and electricity after Turkish bombings in December.
More than 500 villages have been emptied as a result of Turkish and Iranian incursions into the Kurdistan Region since 1992, according to a parliamentary report released in September.
According to the latest figures from the International Crisis Group, at least 5,311 people have been killed during PKK-Turkey clashes since July 20, 2015, when the short-lived peace process between both sides ended.
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