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| The Grand Turk |
| Turkish artillery destroys 28 Kurd residences |
| 2016-05-01 |
| [ARA News] QAMISHLI – The Turkish army forces have been bombing the Kurdish city of Nusaybin southeastern Turkey for months. At least 28 residential buildings in the city have been destroyed and burned under heavy bombardment, Kurdish activists reported on Saturday. Turkish army forces continue its offensive through shelling the city’s neighborhoods by tanks and heavy artillery, according to local sources. Speaking to ARA News in the war-torn city of Nusaybin, rights activist M.Z. confirmed that the Turkish army forces have been bombing residential neighborhoods in Nusaybin with heavy artillery and tanks for months, amid continued clashes between Turkish troops and the PKK-affiliated People’s Defense Forces (HPG). “Turkish army forces have burned more than 28 houses of civilians in neighborhoods of Zein al-Abedin and Kanika inside the city [Nusaybin],” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The source pointed out that pillars of smoke have been rising from the Kanika and Zein al-Abedin since Friday-midnight as a result of the burning of houses in the city caused by the Turkish bombardment. Members of the campaign “No to Silence”, launched by a group of Kurdish activists in the Nusaybin’s twin city of Qamishli northeastern Syria, confirmed that the Turkish army forces intensified their bombardment on Nusaybin since Friday midnight. Dozens of residential buildings have been destroyed by shelling and completely demolished by bulldozers, according to Kurdish activists, who have been documenting the Turkish violations against civilians in Nusaybin. “We have taken photos and some videos from the Syrian side of the border,” a member of the Kurdish group told ARA News. “We are coordinating with reliable sources inside the war-torn city in order to document all violations against civilians’ rights in Nusaybin.” Around 35,000 civilians trapped in the city are suffering from severe shortage of water, food and medicines as well as complete electricity outage, according to local sources. Over 1,000 civilians have been reported dead since the start of the Turkish military campaign against the Kurdish cities and towns in southeastern Turkey last July, while hundreds more have been injured and tens of thousands displaced due to the military operations by the Turkish forces southeastern the country. More than 100,000 displaced people have been documented in two months, while many others remain stranded in the war-torn towns and villages in the Kurdish region, according to local activists. In February, the army targeted the PKK strongholds in Nusaybin and Şırnak with tanks and artillery from the hills that overlook the two Kurdish areas, in a bid to remove the PKK-led checkpoints erected on the roads linking the cities in Turkey’s south-east, according to Turkish military sources. Violence has raged between the government forces and the Kurdish PKK rebels in Turkey’s Kurdish region since July subsequent to the collapse of peace talks–aimed at ending a three-decade conflict in the country. |
| Posted by:badanov |