Turkish jet strikes areas near small community in Kurdistan's Duhok

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On late Saturday, Turkish jets targeted rural parts of the Kurdistan Region's Duhok province, a security source said. The airstrike comes amid a newly-launched Turkish campaign Ankara claims is against fighters of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) based in the autonomous region.

Speaking to Kurdistan 24, a source noted that Turkey's bombardments are landing increasingly closer to civilian-populated areas, saying that the latest air raid struck "one kilometer away" from a community inhabited by around 300 Christian families, named "Bersv."

In the vicinity of the Bersv settlement, three refugee camps house Yazidi internally displaced persons (IDPs). The airstrike was very close to the community, and its "fallout damaged the residents' properties," the source added.

The attack resulted in no casualties, "but caused great environmental damage to the area," the source said.

"If the situation continues as such, we will not be able even to live in the cities," Adil, a villager, told Kurdistan 24. "We ask both sides [Turkey and PKK] to not fight on our land," he added.

The source explained that, as a result of ongoing confrontations between Turkey and PKK, 90 villages in Duhok's Zakho district have been evacuated.

On Monday, Turkish warplanes launched Ankara's latest offensive, with intensive airstrikes against alleged PKK targets in vast areas of the Kurdistan Region, including Sinjar (Shingal), Qandil, Karacak, Zap, Avasin-Basyan, and Hakurk, as part of a military operation which Ankara calls "Operation Eagle Claw."

Several Yezidi aid organizations condemned the Turkish operations in the Shingal area, expressing fears that the attacks could hamper the return displaced members of the minority group to their places of origin.

Read More: Yezidis criticize Turkish airstrikes in Shingal, fearing it could hamper return of civilians

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Friday condemned a Turkish airstrike earlier in the day in Duhok's Shiladze district that claimed four civilian lives.

Read More: KRG condemns Turkish killing of Kurdish civilians, calls on PKK to vacate border areas

Editing by Khrush Najari

Additional reporting by Kurdistan 24 Correspondent Islam Yousif