Turkish shelling in Kurdistan's Amedi kills, injures at least four civilians

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkish warplanes on Wednesday heavily bombarded the Kurdistan Region’s Amedi border areas, killing and injuring at least four civilians, a local source in the area told Kurdistan 24.

The Turkish shelling was meant to target Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in the region, a group that Turkey, the European Union, and the United States label a “terrorist” organization.

The Turkish army regularly launches ground assaults on the group and bombards areas it claims PKK fighters occupy.

The PKK, a group that has been fighting a decades-long insurgency with Ankara over Kurdish rights and self-rule, is thought to have fighters near hundreds of villages inside the Kurdistan Region, mainly in the mountainous areas near the Turkish border. Erbil has repeatedly called on the group to stop using the region as a launchpad for its attacks.

As part of the conflict, the Turkish army has crossed its southern border several times in the past year, in some places, up 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) deep into the Kurdistan Region.

Ankara’s incursion and the battles that take place near civilians’ homes, has led many to leave their settlements and seek safety southward, at the cost of losing their lands and livelihoods.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany