Concentrated shelling of Amedi areas by Turkish planes damages villagers’ farms

The shelling “came after the arrival of a vehicle belonging to PKK guerrillas” in the area.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkish warplanes on Tuesday shelled areas near rural parts of the Kurdistan Region’s north at least seven times, resulting in extensive damage to locals’ farms, one villager said.

The operation is part of Ankara’s continued campaign against members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been engaged in a decades-long insurgency against Turkey over Kurdish rights and self-rule. Turkey, the United States, and the European Union all designate the PKK as a “terrorist” group.

In the past year, Turkey has carried out military operations against PKK fighters based within the Kurdistan Region with continued regularity. Turkish forces have crossed into the region up to 20 kilometers deep in some areas to target the group.  

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The latest bombardments took place in Duhok province’s Amadiya (Amedi) District on the outskirts of many villages, a security source told Kurdistan 24. It “came after the arrival of a vehicle belonging to PKK guerrillas [in the area], and the planes targeted it,” one villager told Kurdistan 24.

It is unclear whether any members of the group were killed in the attack, and the status of the vehicle is unknown at this time. “There were no human casualties [among locals], but villagers have lost millions of dinars” in property losses due to the attacks, the local added.

The villager called on the Turkish forces to stop targeting civilians and their properties, and the PKK fighters to leave the region. Residents of many areas near the Kurdistan Region’s northern border, where PKK fighters are based, have made similar demands.

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Turkish shelling has led to the evacuation of many villagers from the Kurdistan Region because the bombardment damages residential and agricultural lands, and, on occasion, kills civilian bystanders about whom there are no claims of PKK affiliation. Aggrieved locals and officials from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have long urged both sides to take their conflict elsewhere. 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany