Sidekan is a mountainous region close to the Kurdistan Region’s shared border with Turkey and Iran. PKK fighters use the area as a safe haven from which they can launch attacks across the Turkish border. Turkey meanwhile regularly launches cross-border strikes and raids.
Erbil and Baghdad have accused both the PKK and Turkey of undermining Iraq and Region’s sovereignty and endangering the lives of residents.
In a statement published by its affiliated media, the PKK said its fighters attacked the “Turkish invading army on May 19 at 05:00 pm in Khakurk area.”
The Turkish defense ministry confirmed a skirmish had taken place on Sunday after its forces targeted a suspected PKK weapons depot.
Ihsan Chalabi, the mayor of Sidekan, told Rudaw English the clashes have not stopped for five successive days, but said “no civilian has been killed or injured so far.”
Chalabi also said two Turkish helicopters were involved in Sunday’s bombardment.
Ashqi Zuber, a resident of Alaka village in Sidekan, submitted a video to Rudaw appearing to show a Turkish bombardment on Mount Del. He witnessed the helicopter attack while returning home with his parents.
Turkey has intensified its attacks on alleged PKK positions at home and inside Iraq.
The PKK fights for greater political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers them terrorists.
According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), 4,356 people have been killed in the conflict between July 2015 and May 2019 alone.
During his first official visit to Turkey last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said the struggle against the “terror groups” of Islamic State (ISIS) and the PKK must be “decisive”.
