Drastic increase in Turkish airstrikes on Kurdistan: +1,600 operations in 2024
Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, a report released by the US-based NGO Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) revealed a sharp increase in Turkish airstrikes on regions within the Kurdistan Region during the first nine months of this year, compared to military operations in the previous year.
Kameran Osman, a member of the Iraqi Kurdish team at the organization, stated to Shafaq News Agency that "Turkish forces have carried out nearly 1,600 airstrikes on the Region since the beginning of the year, compared to 1,548 operations throughout the entire previous year. These strikes have resulted in the deaths of 17 civilians and injuries to four others."
The report further noted that Turkish forces have intensified their operations in recent days, executing 27 airstrikes on areas in the mountain range overlooking the Al-Amadiyah district in northern Duhok within just one week. "93% of these attacks were conducted using warplanes, while the remainder involved drones and artillery," Osman clarified.
Most of the airstrikes have been concentrated in Duhok province, particularly in the mountainous regions of Gara and Matin. Numerous villages, including Koherzi, Palava, and many others, have suffered damage.
According to CPT’s statistics, the ongoing conflict between the Turkish military and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has led to the complete evacuation of over 170 villages in the region, with an additional 602 villages facing the threat of evacuation.
Notably, since last week, Turkiye’s airstrikes on the PKK intensified following the armed attack on the Turkish Aerospace Industries complex (TUSA?) in the Kahramankazan district of Ankara, Turkiye's capital.
The conflict between Turkiye and the PKK dates back to the early 1980s when the PKK, founded by Abdullah Ocalan, began advocating for an independent Kurdish state within Turkiye.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the conflict intensified, with the PKK engaging in guerrilla warfare and the Turkish military conducting large-scale operations against PKK bases, particularly in southeastern Turkiye and northern Iraq.
The early 2000s saw intermittent ceasefires and attempts at peace negotiations, including a notable peace process in 2013. However, this process collapsed in 2015, leading to renewed hostilities.
