BATIFA, Kurdistan Region – The bodies of two tourists killed on Friday in Turkish artillery fire in northern Duhok province were retrieved by Iraqi border guards on Sunday afternoon and returned to their families.
The two, Ahmed Shukir, 40, and Yousif Ammar, 26, are from Mosul had seemingly unknowingly entered a conflict zone when they visited the village of Bankie, in the Batifa sub-district where Turkish forces have clashed with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
According to eyewitnesses, Shukir and Ammar died after an artillery shell hit their car.
Turkey launched twin operations, Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt, against the PKK in the Kurdistan Region on April 23. The operations are focused on the Metina and Avashin areas of northern Duhok province.
Civilian populations and the environment have been devastated by the conflict.
A reported seven other civilians have been killed, several injured, and 20 villages emptied this year.
The PKK is an armed Kurdish group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization. For decades, Turkish forces have pursued the PKK within the Kurdistan Region’s borders.
A parliamentary report issued last year concluded that at least 504 villages have been emptied across the Kurdistan Region since 1992, and hundreds of people have been killed. In Duhok alone, 366 villages have been abandoned since 1998.
Translation by Zhelwan Zeyad Wali
Video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
