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Kurdistan
A Turkish Air Force warplane rises in the sky after taking off from Incirlik Air Base in Adana, southern Turkey, July 29, 2015. File photo: Emrah Gurel / AP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish warplanes attacked an alleged Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) target in the Chamanke area of Duhok late on Tuesday, killing a local shopkeeper, a district official told Rudaw.
Aland Amir, head of Chamanke district, said the bombardment took place at around 6pm local time on the area’s main road, suggesting the Turkish jets may have been pursuing a suspected PKK vehicle.
Yousef Jamal, 19, who runs a shop at the area’s tourist resort, was killed in the strike. A number of shelters at the resort were also damaged.
“Turkey bombards the area on a daily basis,” Amir told Rudaw.
The Turkish military is now in the third phase of Operation Claw, and air and ground offensive against the PKK in the Haftanin-Sinat regions of Duhok province.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said in a tweet that its air forces had conducted air strikes against PKK positions in Duhok and that “three PKK terrorists were neutralized”. It did not mention civilian casualties.
The ministry claimed in an earlier tweet that Turkish forces had “neutralized” three more suspected PKK fighters in the Avasin area, close to Chamanke.
Turkey uses the term “neutralized” to denote adversaries captured, wounded, or killed in combat.
There was no immediate statement from the PKK confirming the attack. However, the PKK-affiliated Roj News reported a 20-year-old civilian had been killed in a Turkish strike.
The PKK issued a statement on Tuesday claiming its fighters had killed two Turkish “intelligence operatives” in Turkey’s southeast Mardin province on Saturday.
In an earlier statement on Monday it also claimed to have killed 15 Turkish soldiers in different locations both inside and outside Turkey in recent days, including one in Haftanin, according to the PKK-affiliated ANF news agency.
The PKK has fought a decades-long war with the Turkish state in the country’s Kurdish-majority southeast and across the border into the neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan Region, killing more than 40,000 combatants and civilians on both sides.
Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, the PKK fights for greater political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. The group is headquartered in the Qandil Mountains of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and operates along the mountainous border with Turkey.
Attacks on alleged PKK positions inside the Kurdistan Region have frequently resulted in the death of civilians, forcing villagers to evacuate and sparking wildfires.
The governments in Erbil and Baghdad have repeatedly called on Turkey to halt its bombardments and violations of Iraq’s sovereignty, while also calling on the PKK to stop using their territory to strike at Turkey.
The KRG has urged residents of the border regions to leave the area to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
“Last Wednesday, Zakho security forces informed us to warn residents from 15 villages in Derker and Batifa sub-districts against visiting and commuting from their villages,” Zeravan Musa told Rudaw in early September.
Aland Amir, head of Chamanke district, said the bombardment took place at around 6pm local time on the area’s main road, suggesting the Turkish jets may have been pursuing a suspected PKK vehicle.
Yousef Jamal, 19, who runs a shop at the area’s tourist resort, was killed in the strike. A number of shelters at the resort were also damaged.
“Turkey bombards the area on a daily basis,” Amir told Rudaw.
The Turkish military is now in the third phase of Operation Claw, and air and ground offensive against the PKK in the Haftanin-Sinat regions of Duhok province.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said in a tweet that its air forces had conducted air strikes against PKK positions in Duhok and that “three PKK terrorists were neutralized”. It did not mention civilian casualties.
The ministry claimed in an earlier tweet that Turkish forces had “neutralized” three more suspected PKK fighters in the Avasin area, close to Chamanke.
Turkey uses the term “neutralized” to denote adversaries captured, wounded, or killed in combat.
There was no immediate statement from the PKK confirming the attack. However, the PKK-affiliated Roj News reported a 20-year-old civilian had been killed in a Turkish strike.
The PKK issued a statement on Tuesday claiming its fighters had killed two Turkish “intelligence operatives” in Turkey’s southeast Mardin province on Saturday.
In an earlier statement on Monday it also claimed to have killed 15 Turkish soldiers in different locations both inside and outside Turkey in recent days, including one in Haftanin, according to the PKK-affiliated ANF news agency.
The PKK has fought a decades-long war with the Turkish state in the country’s Kurdish-majority southeast and across the border into the neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan Region, killing more than 40,000 combatants and civilians on both sides.
Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, the PKK fights for greater political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. The group is headquartered in the Qandil Mountains of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and operates along the mountainous border with Turkey.
Attacks on alleged PKK positions inside the Kurdistan Region have frequently resulted in the death of civilians, forcing villagers to evacuate and sparking wildfires.
The governments in Erbil and Baghdad have repeatedly called on Turkey to halt its bombardments and violations of Iraq’s sovereignty, while also calling on the PKK to stop using their territory to strike at Turkey.
The KRG has urged residents of the border regions to leave the area to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
“Last Wednesday, Zakho security forces informed us to warn residents from 15 villages in Derker and Batifa sub-districts against visiting and commuting from their villages,” Zeravan Musa told Rudaw in early September.
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