ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Four civilians were killed and another two are still missing in a Turkish airstrike in a village in Duhok province on Wednesday night. Ismael Mustafa, the mayor of Amedi, had initially confirmed that Turkish jets targeted the village of Gali Rashava in the Deraluk region, killing two and wounding two civilians. On Thursday however, the villagers found out that two civilians were missing. Relatives fear the two have been incinerated in the blast. "Four of the victims are relatives,” Idris Rekani, a local resident of Deraluk told Rudaw. “Two of them were Peshmerga. They had gone to the spot for fishing in the Upper Zab River.” Mohammed Salim Nerwai, a villager, confirmed that two civilians were missing and that their families were looking for them among the rubble of the air strike. Turkey regularly carries out cross-border air raids, targeting alleged PKK positions. It usually targets sparsely populated areas, though tens of civilians have been killed over the years. The bombings have also forced villagers out of their homes in some of the mountainous areas, made pasture lands off limits, and destroyed forests. Turkish jets earlier this week also bombed a village in Sidakan area in Erbil province, causing in material damage. The parliamentary bloc of the governing Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) denounced the airstrikes in a statement as “not justified” and said that the civilian population must not become victims of any armed conflict in the area. "Unfortunately, due to Turkey’s airstrikes in the border areas of the town of Deraluk in Amedi two civilians were martyred and two are missing," said the KDP parliamentary bloc on Wednesday. The statement said that civilians should not become victims of any armed conflict in the area. "Bombarding Kurdistan Region’s civilian population cannot be justified and we strongly denounce it. Also the forces who have become an alibi for the airstrikes shouldn’t make their rivalry a justification for victimizing civilians and villagers of Kurdistan Region." In operations carried out between January 20 and 22, the Turkish army claimed to have “neutralized” 21 PKK fighters in the Kurdistan Region. The army uses the term “neutralized” to refer to those killed, wounded, or otherwise removed from the battlefield. The PKK has its headquarters in the Kurdistan Region’s Qandil Mountains.
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