SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A Christian village has been evacuated in the Kurdistan Region’s district of Amedi due to Turkish strikes, a local official said on Saturday.
Director of Kani Mase sub-district Sarbast Sabri told Esta Media Network that residents of Chalke who are Christians have evacuated the village after intense bombardment by Turkish warplanes.
“There were no casualties, but a lot of the area has been burned,” Sabri said.
The village is located in Kani Masea sub-district in Amedi, 71 kilometers northeast of Duhok city.
It was the second village that has been evacuated in the past four days. On Wednesday, residents of Kesta abandoned their homes in the village after Turkey intensified strikes against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Sabri said last week that the strikes had burned 1,300 dunams (130 hectares) of lands of civilians and killed nearly 500 bees in Kesta.
Turkey has intensified airstrikes in several areas in Duhok province since it launched a new ground and air defensive against the PKK fighters on April 23.
The Turkish military has entered nearly 10 kilometers deep into the Kurdistan Region. It has also set up four new military points in Duhok, according to Esta Media Network reporter.
Ankara has established a dozen military bases in the Kurdistan Region’s border areas as part of a military campaign against the PKK.
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.
