Turkish jets destroy road, petrol station in series of attacks in Kurdistan Region

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkish fighter jets carried out a series of raids on Wednesday against alleged Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in the Kurdistan Region, blocking the main road between Duhok and Amedi.

The fighter jets also hit a petrol station and a pipeline at a water project in Amedi, destroying both sites in the process. At least one civilian suffered light injuries, according to witness reports.

Kurdistan 24 was at the scene of the incident and spoke to residents who recalled the events of the attack.

One witness said the airstrikes struck a road which damaged his pick-up truck. “We barely dodged the shelling with the skin of our teeth,” he told Kurdistan 24.

“We cannot carry on living like this because we live in constant fear of being hit by the bombings or the armed conflicts,” the witness added.

“If these attacks continue, we will be forced to evacuate our village in the Amedi district.”

Residents in the border villages pleaded with the relevant authorities to intervene and end the use of their areas as a battleground for the ongoing conflict between the PKK and Turkey.

The PKK took up arms in the 1980s to demand rights for Kurdish citizens in a conflict that has claimed some 40,000 lives on both sides. Violence has escalated since the collapse of a peace process between Ankara and the Kurdish fighters in the summer of 2015.

Turkey has recently stepped up military action against PKK fighters within the Kurdistan Region, including building outposts and military checkpoints.

In some areas, Turkish troops have crossed up to 20 kilometers deep into the region to target Kurdish PKK fighters. Additionally, bombardment from Turkish jets occasionally results in the death of civilians unaffiliated with the PKK.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany