KRG condemns attacks within its borders that endanger civilian lives

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - There have been more than 400 military incursions into the Kurdistan Region so far this year, endangering innocent civilians, a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) official said on Wednesday.

“Ever since the border clashes and bombardments commenced, civilian impacts culminated in mass displacement, colossal proprietary damages, and the victimization of innocent civilians,” read a statement from Dindar Zebari, KRG’s coordinator for international advocacy.

“Between January and August 2021, there were 165 airstrikes, 274 artillery shells, 6 boots-on-the-ground [operations],” in Duhok, Erbil, and Sulaimani provinces, he added. The statement does not name any nation or group.

Neighboring countries frequently target Kurdish groups who have bases in the Kurdistan Region. This year, both Iran and Turkey have conducted large-scale offensives.

In April, Turkey launched two operations, Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt, in northern Duhok. The operations are ongoing, targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group fighting for greater rights for Kurds in Turkey. Several civilians have been killed. One Duhok family is suffering ill health from a suspected chemical weapon attack. Turkey is also accused of deforestation.

For several days in September, Iran attacked suspected positions of Kurdish opposition parties in Sulaimani and Erbil provinces. Locals affected by the bombing said they were terrified.

“These attacks endanger the lives of Kurdistan citizens, destroy their properties, annihilate the villagers’ agrarian lands, impairs civilian infrastructure and damages the forests,” said Zebari, who noted that there has been no effort to compensate the people living on the frontlines of these offensives.

“Neither national nor international counterparts made an initiative to produce an equitable outcome to compensate civilians who have had their houses demolished, their farming lands destroyed and their lives endangered,” he said.

According to Zebari, because of the clashes “more than 800 villages remain without inhabitation, reconstruction, and services.”

A year ago, a parliamentary report found that 504 villages have been completely emptied due to Turkish and Iranian attacks since 1992.

“KRG has requested the armed elements to discontinue their provocations against the neighboring states from the KRG territories. Also, it calls upon neighboring countries to consider that civilians inhabit the border areas, which are currently exposed to bombardments; hence they are forced to flee their homes and abandon their properties,” Zebari said.

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