Report: Scores of Families Flee Homes in Iraq Due to Turkey Offensive

Date: 09 May 2021 - 22:51

News ID: ۹۰۰۳۴

BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – Residents of Kista village in northern Iraqi Kurdistan’s Dohuk governorate have fled their homes due to Turkish offensive in the area, a local Iraqi news website has reported.
The news website said that the residents of the village of Kista left their homes at night, fearing the increasing Turkish strikes against the village.
One of the residents told the news website that 31 families have so far left their homes, noting that the families do not know where to go.
The chief of the village Mahmoud Kisti called for the Iraqi forces to protect them.
Reports stated that the Turkish forces had established several new military bases, increasing the number of its military bases in the border area from 36 to 43, according to an MP from the Kurdistan region.
In the latest development, at least eight militants with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were killed in an air operation in Iraq’s northern Gara region, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The relations between Turkey and Iraq have been rocky at times as Baghdad has slammed Turkey’s military offensives in northern Iraq as a violation of Baghdad’s sovereignty.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu recently announced plans to set up a military base in Dohuk region, in addition to a number of military outposts that Turkey has held in the region.
Turkey says the new base is to restrict the movement of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants and their military operations against Turkey.
Last month, the Turkish army launched a new offensive against PKK bases in northern Iraq, and Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar visited a military base in the Kurdistan region.
The operation and Akar’s visit — which took place "without coordination or prior approval from authorities” — sparked anger from Baghdad. The Iraqi government sent a formal letter of protest to Turkey’s ambassador on May 3.