Attacks on Turkey's Kurdish areas kill nearly 200

Civil sources in Turkey’s southeastern areas revealed the death toll of the Turkish operations that erupted three weeks ago.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – On Tuesday, civil sources in Turkey’s southeastern areas revealed the death toll of the Turkish operations that erupted three weeks ago.

Activists monitoring the ongoing conflict in the country, based in the town of Nusaybin near the Syrian border, told Kurdistan24 that the Turkish security forces operations have claimed the lives of at least 168 Kurdish Civilian Protection Units (YPS) fighters and 32 security elements.

Turkish forces are battling a new, armed youth formation of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in the form of YPS.

“The severity of the attacks is increasing in Nusaybin where state forces continue their genocidal attacks. Explosions have rocked the town for the past three weeks,” the sources said.

Kurdistan24 staff in the Syrian Kurdish city of Qamishlo could observe the violence and destruction in Nusaybin remotely using video cameras.

“Dark smoke rises above buildings following the rocket and artillery attacks, and destroyed buildings are seen clearly as Qamishlo and Nusaybin are not so far from each other,” said a Kurdistan24 reporter who was watching the events from the top of a building in Qamishlo.

According to the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TIHV), at least 310 civilians have been killed during the various curfews imposed in parts of the region between August and mid-March.

“Between the dates of Aug. 16, 2015, and March 18, 2016, at least 310 civilians lost their lives in curfew areas. Of these people; 72 are children, 62 are women, 29 are over the age 60,” TIHV continued. “At least 79 people are not included in these numbers due to the fact that the bodies are still waiting to be identified.”

The southeast of Turkey has been gripped by violence since July 2015, with security forces shelling the densely populated urban areas.

 

Reporting by Hisham Arafat

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany and Ava Homa