VIDEO: Turkish bombardment in Kurdistan injures civilian, kills over 10 livestock

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkish shelling has injured a civilian in the Kurdistan Region and killed over 10 cows, local sources said.

Sources told Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday that the injured civilian was named Qadir from the village of Balasnan in Erbil’s Sidakan town.

The Turkish artilleries bombardment also killed 10 cows and severely wounded four more in the same village, the sources added.

For almost an hour, Turkish artilleries heavily shelled the villages of Balasnan, Gorrasha, Khalifan, and Lelkan in Sidakan, eyewitnesses in those areas told Kurdistan 24.

Turkey repeatedly shells the Kurdistan Region’s bordering area claiming it targets Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters which Turkey, the EU, and the US designates as a “terrorist” organization.

Airstrikes Turkey conducts have killed dozens of civilians in mountainous areas of northern Erbil and Duhok provinces since Ankara reignited its war on the PKK in mid-2015, following the collapse of peace talks between them.

The Turkish army maintains a ground invasion, in some places up 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) deep into the Kurdistan Region.

In May, Turkey announced it had constructed a military outpost in Khwakurk as a base to launch attacks against the PKK. Those attacks, however, have caused injuries and deaths to residents unaffiliated with the group, and have forced villagers from the area to flee for their lives.

In March, Turkish jets struck and killed four people who were celebrating Newroz, the Kurdish new year, in Erbil’s Choman district.

Both Choman and Bradost are near the Qandil mountain range sprawling along the Iraq-Iran border where the PKK has its headquarters.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany

(Additional reporting by Tayfur Mohammed)