Kurdistan
Homes and vehicles were damaged in Turkish shelling of Banka Sare village, Duhok on September 15, 2021. Photo: submitted
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey on Wednesday shelled a village in Duhok province’s Zakho district, causing material damage to civilian houses and cars, a villager told Rudaw. Turkish forces are continuing their months-long campaign against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on the Kurdistan Region’s northern borders.
Early Wednesday morning Turkey bombed Banka Sare village, in the Batifa area near the border with Turkey, Ramazan Banki, who lives in the village, told Rudaw.
Several mortar shells have fallen inside the village. There are no casualties reported, but residents are terrified, Banki said.
The PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization and frequently bombards areas in the Kurdistan Region and northern Iraq’s disputed territories on the grounds of targeting PKK positions. In April, Turkey launched two new operations, Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt, within the Kurdistan Region’s northern borders.
Batifa sub-district is an area regularly targeted by Turkish shelling. Two tourists from Mosul were killed in August. At least half the residents of Banka Sare have fled their homes.
Civilian populations and the environment have been devastated by the conflict. Scores of civilians have been killed over the decades and hundreds of villages emptied.
Additional reporting by Nasr Ali
Early Wednesday morning Turkey bombed Banka Sare village, in the Batifa area near the border with Turkey, Ramazan Banki, who lives in the village, told Rudaw.
Several mortar shells have fallen inside the village. There are no casualties reported, but residents are terrified, Banki said.
The PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization and frequently bombards areas in the Kurdistan Region and northern Iraq’s disputed territories on the grounds of targeting PKK positions. In April, Turkey launched two new operations, Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt, within the Kurdistan Region’s northern borders.
Batifa sub-district is an area regularly targeted by Turkish shelling. Two tourists from Mosul were killed in August. At least half the residents of Banka Sare have fled their homes.
Civilian populations and the environment have been devastated by the conflict. Scores of civilians have been killed over the decades and hundreds of villages emptied.
Additional reporting by Nasr Ali
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