SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A village in the Kurdistan Region has been evacuated due to the continuity of Turkish airstrikes against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a local official said on Wednesday.
Director of Kane Mase sub-district Sarbast Sabri said villagers in Kesta had evacuated the village after Turkey intensified airstrikes against suspected PKK positions in the area.
“The village has been evacuated completely and its villagers have gone to the surrounding areas,” Sabri told Esta Media Network.
The official further said the strikes had burned 1,300 dunams (130 hectares) of lands of civilians and killed nearly 500 bees in the village.
He called on the civil organizations to provide aid to Kesta villagers who need assistance for evacuating their houses.
Turkey has launched a new ground and air defensive against the PKK fighters in Duhok province on April 23. The Turkish military has entered nearly 10 kilometers deep into the Kurdistan Region.
It also set up four new military points in Duhok province, according to Esta Media Network reporter.
The Turkish military has established a dozen military bases in the Kurdistan Region’s border areas with Turkey as part of a military campaign against the PKK.
On Tuesday, Iraqi border guard forces set up four military bases in Duhok province to prevent the Turkish forces from advancing deeper into Iraqi territory.
“More military bases will be established in the near future to prevent the Turkish army from further advancing into Iraqi territory and to reduce clashes between Turkey and the PKK,” a source in the Iraqi border guards told Esta Media Network.
Turkey regularly carries out air and ground attacks against the PKK in northern Iraq. It says neither the Iraqi government nor the Kurdish government has taken measures to combat the group.
