Turkish jets bomb Kurdistan Region’s Soran district, killing one, injuring another

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkish warplanes on Wednesday struck the Kurdistan Region’s Sidakan sub-district in Erbil province, hitting a civilian car which killed one man and injured another.

Kirmanj Izaat, the mayor of Soran district, said the incident occurred in Soran’s Zini village, killing one person and injuring another who was transported to a local hospital.

“Constant armed conflicts between fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] and Turkish forces in Sidakan and its surrounding areas have turned the region into a warzone which causes the people to live in fear,” Izaat told Kurdistan 24.

“If a long-term solution is not found, there is a great risk of evacuating the villages in the area, as there are no guarantees on the safety of the people living there,” the mayor added.

Turkey has routinely shelled and otherwise attacked areas well past its borders and into the Kurdistan Region in past months and years, killing many civilians who are unaffiliated with the PKK.

An acquaintance of the victim told Kurdistan 24 the attacks threaten the livelihood and income of the people who are “only farmers, busy with grains and livestock.”

The clashes between the PKK and Turkish forces have already led to the evacuation of hundreds of villages in the autonomous Kurdistan Region located near the Turkish border.

Villagers have repeatedly called on both sides to take their conflict outside of their areas as dozens of civilians have fallen victim to Turkey’s airstrikes and artillery attacks.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by several states and organizations, including NATO, Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany