Residents of the village of Sarkli in Iraqi Kurdistan, victims of mutual attacks between Turkey and the PKK (Al Jazeera)

Dohuk -

The village of Sarkli, affiliated with Amadiya district in Dohuk Governorate, north of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, was subjected to intense bombardment by Turkish drones, in light of the escalation of battles between Turkish forces and Kurdistan Workers’ Party militants who are holed up inside the territory of the region.

Turkey justified this bombing by saying that it targeted gatherings of Workers' Party militants who use the area as their arena and are holed up in the mountains adjacent to the village, which sits in the embrace of Mount Mateen deep in the Kurdistan region, less than 20 kilometers from the winding border between the two countries.

These border villages, which were damaged as a result of renewed battles between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, are more than 250 kilometers away from Erbil, the capital of the region.

Most of the families abandoned the village of Sarkli as a result of the renewed battles between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (Al-Jazeera)

The villagers are abandoning it

Bishkeft Rashid, the owner of a livestock project in the village of Sarkli, says: “I was forced to evacuate the project after I was warned to empty the warehouses of livestock and their fodder two hours before it was targeted by Turkish drones.”

The cause of the bombing - as Rashid explained to Al Jazeera Net - was a loss estimated at 300 thousand dollars, and the bombing also caused damage to the homes of other villagers near the bombing site.

These developments led to reducing the number of families in the village to one tenth of its original number. Nizar Shino, the village mukhtar and school director, says: “We were about 500 families living in this village, but most of the families left the village.”

Shino added to Al Jazeera Net, "The number of families still living in the village has become less than 50, as others have gone to safer places, and the last of these was my cousin, who left the village two days ago."

Village Mukhtar: The main source of water has been damaged and cannot be approached to repair it (Al Jazeera)

Stopped projects

The Mukhtar of the village of Sarkli continued: “If this war continues in our area, we, the rest of us, will be forced to leave the village permanently. Government projects have been suspended due to the war and we are deprived of basic services. The main source of water has been damaged due to the bombing, and we cannot approach it in order to repair it.” This will affect agriculture in the coming summer season, and we do not know where we will get water from.”

Khoshfi Salim, a member of the remaining families in the village so far, recounted what they are experiencing as a result of the ongoing battles, saying: “We live in a state of terror, as we cannot leave the village more than 100 meters due to fear of snipers or bombing, sometimes from militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.” Other times we become a target for Turkish drones,” he explained, “Two days ago, a bullet occurred in the courtyard of my house.”

Salim added to Al Jazeera Net: "I fear for my children, but at the same time I cannot leave my home, my village, and my profession, which I know of no other. We live here on agriculture and livestock raising, and most importantly, this is the land of my ancestors. We were born and raised in this village."

The mayor of Amadiya district says that the attacks in the region have disrupted government development projects (Al Jazeera)

The Kurdish villager demanded official intervention to protect them from the repercussions of the battles, and said: “We ask the Kurdistan Regional Government, as well as the federal government in Baghdad, to take action to remove PKK militants from these areas, and to persuade Turkey to stop targeting us. We need protection to live safely in our villages.”

The mayor (local official) of Amadiya District, Warchin Salman, explained that Amadiya is one of the largest districts in Dohuk Governorate, and it is adjacent to the border with Turkey, while the district consists of 6 districts, and the total number of villages in it is 356 villages, but 201 villages have become deserted so far, and displacement Continuously and at an increasing pace.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Warshin added: "There are many government projects that we were tasked with implementing in this region, but the current developments prevented us from implementing most of these projects, and we cannot reach some villages to provide water and electricity services and extend roads to them."

Khoshfi Salim, a resident of the village of Sarkli, showing off a bullet that recently hit his house (Al Jazeera)

Increasing threats

It is noteworthy that PKK militants have been holed up in these sites since the end of the 1980s, but their presence there recently has become larger than before, due to these militants leaving their positions inside Turkey with the Turkish army advancing towards them, as well as as a result of the strikes they are receiving from Turkish aircraft and artillery.

These developments threaten the security of Iraqi Kurdistan, a region that has long demanded that the party’s militants leave these sites and also called on Turkey to avoid targeting the villagers’ sites.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party was founded in 1978 in Turkey, and began armed action in 1984. The party fought battles with the Turkish army inside and outside Turkish territory, where approximately 50,000 civilians and militants were killed in this conflict.

Turkish intelligence arrested the leader and founder of the party, Abdullah Ocalan, in 1999, and he is currently serving a life sentence in a prison on Imrali Island in the Sea of ​​Marmara in Turkey.

Source: Al Jazeera