SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Turkish military detained 12 people in Erbil province late on Friday, media affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) reported.
The Turkish military arrested the people in the villages of Dila, Malmalok and Midan in Sidakan sub-district in the district of Soran, northwest of Erbil, PKK-affiliated media said.
“They were tortured during their detention,” it said.
Residents in the area told the PKK-affiliated media that the 12 people had gone to bring back spring grass but they were prevented by the Turkish military.
Some of them ran away as the Turkish army opened fire at them, they added. A number of horses were killed in the shooting.
The incident comes as Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani visited Turkey for a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday.
Turkey has taken its decades-old conflict with the PKK deep into the Kurdistan Region, establishing military bases and deploying armed military drones against the fighters in their mountain strongholds.
The Turkish military has also conducted numerous ground and aerial cross-border offensives into neighboring northern Iraq to attack PKK fighters, who maintains bases in the region.
