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Iraq
Turkish bombs scorch Sulaimani farmland, orchards: Official
2023-09-04
01-09-2023
[Rudaw] Ottoman Turkish air forces bombarded several areas in Sulaimani province in the early hours of Friday morning, damaging the orchards and farms of villagers, a local official said. Ankara claimed it only targeted alleged positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and was careful not to harm civilian property.

Ottoman Turkish warplanes and drones bombarded the vicinity of Galala village ten times, Kamaran Hassan, mayor of Mawat district, which includes the village in northern Sulaimani province, told Rudaw. The attack damaged farms and orchards and sparked a fire that burned from midnight to 10 o’clock the next morning.

"A number of other areas close to Mount Asos were bombarded too, but there were no casualties or material loss," he said.

The Ottoman Turkish defence ministry said in a statement that it "destroyed" the mouths of 16 caves, four shelters, and two depots allegedly belonging to the PKK in Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s on Mount Asos and Mount Qandil.

"Before the operation, the targets were carefully chosen, and maximum attention and sensitivity was paid to the safety of lives and property of the civilian population and the protection of historical, religious, cultural assets," said the ministry.

Eastern Kurdistan Units (YRK), a PKK-affiliated force fighting against Iran, denied the PKK had been hit and accused The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
of publishing misinformation. Ottoman Turkish forces "only damaged the farms and orchards of the residents of the area," it was cited by PKK-affiliated Rojnews as saying.

The PKK is an gang which claims to struggle for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. It is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara, which has launched numerous operations against the group and its alleged offshoots in the Kurdistan Region and Syria.

Kurdish civilians and rights organizations have criticized Turkey’s military campaign as civilian lives and property are frequently caught in the crossfire.

In a recent escalation of its activity in Sulaimani province, Ankara has carried out drone attacks on busy roads that link major urban centres, leading to civilian deaths.

Kamaran Osman, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
organization that monitors Turkey's operations in the Kurdistan Region, told Rudaw last month that Ottoman Turkish forces had targeted 82 sites in the Kurdistan Region since the beginning of this year. In these attacks, eight non-combatants were killed and three others were maimed.

According to CPT data, Ankara has killed at least 147 people and injured 219 since 2015. During this period, 158 villages were abandoned because life there had become impossible. About 600 others are under threat of being emptied as well.

The US consulate in Erbil told Rudaw English in mid-August that it condemned "any loss of civilian life" in the dronezaps in Sulaimani and called on Turkey to coordinate cross-border operations with authorities in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

During his first visit to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region as Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan last month called on Iraqi authorities to recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization.

Ottoman Turkish state media on Saturday claimed that a PKK fighter, Rezan Gungen, was killed by Ottoman Turkish forces in Sulaimani province. The PKK had announced his death on August 10, saying he was killed four days earlier on Mount Qandil.
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