ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters operating in the mountains of the Kurdistan Region are endangering the lives of villagers, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said Saturday.
Four civilians were killed on Thursday in a Turkish airstrike near the village of Kurtak at the foot of the Qandil Mountains, where the PKK is headquartered.
The KRG voiced its “deep concern” over the deaths, blaming the PKK for putting locals in harm’s way.
The PKK is a Kurdish armed group that has fought an on-and-off war against the Turkish state for greater Kurdish cultural and political rights since the 1980s.
“The presence of PKK fighters in these areas, intentionally approaching and visiting villages and inhabited areas, recklessly endangering the lives of the villagers in these areas,” read the KRG statement published early on Saturday.
The KRG “will not tolerate or allow its soil to be used for attacking or stirring the security of neighboring countries which will put the lives of the Kurdistan Region’s people in danger,” it added.
The statement did not condemn the Turkish airstrikes, which regularly kill civilians and livestock and often cause wildfires. In January, villagers angered by the death of civilians in Duhok province stormed a Turkish military outpost in Shiladze.
Hiwa Qarani, head of Raparin Administration, told Rudaw four individuals were killed when their car was caught in a Turkish airstrike on Thursday. Five others were injured.
Another civilian was also killed by Turkish jets one day earlier in the Bradost area.
The KRG said border villages should not be turned into a battlefield and “the PKK should stay away from villages and not endanger their lives”.
“We hope it will not happen again.”
Turkey is yet to comment on the recent incidents. Baghdad has also not issued a statement.
The Peoples’ Defense Forces (HPG), the armed wing of the PKK, denied having any presence in the area at the time of the attack and vowed to “make the enemy pay” for killing civilians.
Civilians are frequently caught in the crossfire between Turkey and the PKK and hundreds of villages have been emptied to escape the fighting. Baghdad and Erbil have both called on Turkey to halt its attacks, while simultaneously demanding the PKK leave their territories.
There was a short-lived peace process between Turkey and the PKK which ended in failure on July 20, 2015. Since then, at least 4,397 people, including security forces, PKK fighters, and civilians have been killed, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).
Turkey launched Operation Claw in late May to drive the PKK away from its border with the Kurdistan Region.
The Turkish defense ministry claimed on Friday it had “neutralized” 112 PKK fighters since the beginning of the operation.
Ankara uses the word neutralized to refer to those killed, wounded, or otherwise removed from the battlefield.
Four civilians were killed on Thursday in a Turkish airstrike near the village of Kurtak at the foot of the Qandil Mountains, where the PKK is headquartered.
The KRG voiced its “deep concern” over the deaths, blaming the PKK for putting locals in harm’s way.
The PKK is a Kurdish armed group that has fought an on-and-off war against the Turkish state for greater Kurdish cultural and political rights since the 1980s.
“The presence of PKK fighters in these areas, intentionally approaching and visiting villages and inhabited areas, recklessly endangering the lives of the villagers in these areas,” read the KRG statement published early on Saturday.
The KRG “will not tolerate or allow its soil to be used for attacking or stirring the security of neighboring countries which will put the lives of the Kurdistan Region’s people in danger,” it added.
The statement did not condemn the Turkish airstrikes, which regularly kill civilians and livestock and often cause wildfires. In January, villagers angered by the death of civilians in Duhok province stormed a Turkish military outpost in Shiladze.
Hiwa Qarani, head of Raparin Administration, told Rudaw four individuals were killed when their car was caught in a Turkish airstrike on Thursday. Five others were injured.
Another civilian was also killed by Turkish jets one day earlier in the Bradost area.
The KRG said border villages should not be turned into a battlefield and “the PKK should stay away from villages and not endanger their lives”.
“We hope it will not happen again.”
Turkey is yet to comment on the recent incidents. Baghdad has also not issued a statement.
The Peoples’ Defense Forces (HPG), the armed wing of the PKK, denied having any presence in the area at the time of the attack and vowed to “make the enemy pay” for killing civilians.
Civilians are frequently caught in the crossfire between Turkey and the PKK and hundreds of villages have been emptied to escape the fighting. Baghdad and Erbil have both called on Turkey to halt its attacks, while simultaneously demanding the PKK leave their territories.
There was a short-lived peace process between Turkey and the PKK which ended in failure on July 20, 2015. Since then, at least 4,397 people, including security forces, PKK fighters, and civilians have been killed, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).
Turkey launched Operation Claw in late May to drive the PKK away from its border with the Kurdistan Region.
The Turkish defense ministry claimed on Friday it had “neutralized” 112 PKK fighters since the beginning of the operation.
Ankara uses the word neutralized to refer to those killed, wounded, or otherwise removed from the battlefield.
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