Suspected Turkish warplanes bombard village in Duhok

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A village on the border of Duhok province’s Akre was bombarded by suspected Turkish warplanes on Tuesday without resulting in any casualties, local officials told Rudaw, presumably targeting positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the mountainous regions of the area as Turkey continues its operations against the Kurdish opposition group in the Kurdistan Region.

Bombardment from the suspected Turkish warplanes targeted two locations in Shinye village in the town of Dinarte, according to Shaaban Khalil, the head of the town, who added that the village has been deserted but locals still visit to herd their livestock and tend to their farms.

“At 3:30 pm this afternoon, Turkish warplanes bombarded areas near Shinye village. The bombardment was near locals of the village but they were unharmed,” Bakhtiyar Aziz, Shinye’s chieftain, told Rudaw on Tuesday.

The PKK does not have clear positions inside the village, but it is believed that it has positions in the village’s mountainous areas.

Also on Tuesday, two rockets targeted the facilities of Khani media agency in Duhok, disrupting its live television and radio broadcasts. Mushir Ahmed, the mayor of Zakho, blamed the PKK for the attack.

Turkey frequently targets PKK positions beyond its southern border with the Kurdistan Region. It recently launched a fresh phase in a series of anti-PKK operations. The operation, dubbed Claw-Lock, is an air and ground assault that heavily focuses on mountainous border areas where the armed group maintains a presence.

On Saturday, two suspected Turkish drones targeted a vehicle in the sub-district of Aghjalar in Sulaimani province, killing five passengers including at least two members of the PKK, according to a local official. The PKK is an armed group that is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey.