Curfew imposed in a dozen Kurdish villages in Turkey

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Turkish authorities imposed a round-the-clock curfew in 13 villages on Saturday in the Kurdish province of Diyarbakir.

A statement released on the website of the Diyarbakir governor’s office said the curfew covers eight villages in the Lice County and five others in Hani County.

The announcement warned civilians in the villages under curfew to stay indoors at all times for “the safety of their own life and property until a second notification.”

The report cited a military operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that began in mountainous and forest areas.

The renewed fighting since mid-2015 between Turkish forces and the PKK in the aftermath of the collapse of a two-year ceasefire and peace negotiations has largely shifted from urban to rural areas.

As a result, in the last few months, Turkey repeatedly ordered indefinite curfews in villages in areas where its troops are battling Kurdish guerrillas.

In the last year-and-a-half, the conflict has killed more than 6,000 Kurdish fighters and 600 Turkish soldiers and police, according to the Turkish President.

International and Turkey’s human rights groups say nearly 400 civilians have been killed during the urban warfare mostly by Turkish army shelling in the border towns of Cizre, Sur, and Nisebin.

Meanwhile, the city of Sirnak remained under a curfew for the 200th day where about 64,000 people, 90 percent of its population according to a Kurdish Goc-der IDP agency, has been displaced.

As the winter closes in, 10,000 of those displaced are now living in makeshift shelters and rudimentary tents in an area outside the city.

Moreover, the Turkish military recently denied a pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) group of MPs to visit the city two weeks ago.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany