Turkey bombards the vicinity of two Kani Masi villages

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish helicopters bombarded the vicinity of two villages in Duhok province’s Kani Masi subdistrict Friday afternoon, a local told Rudaw English. 

The helicopters targeted the vicinity of Alikhan and Begdada, “with two bombs landing in each of the villages,” Hividar Barwari from the former village told Rudaw English late Friday adding that the bombs hit spots located about 700 kilometers from the populated areas. 

“Our village has been bombarded several times in the past, causing destruction to the houses,” noted Barwari. 

Turkey launched a new phase of its Claw operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province in mid-April. 

Kani Masi is affiliated to Amedi district which has seen intense fighting between Turkish troops and the PKK in recent years. A large number of villages have been evacuated so far.

However, Warshin Salman, mayor of Amedi, told Rudaw’s Soran Hussein late Friday that the latest offensive, code-named Operation Claw-Lock, has not caused the abandonment of any new villages in the district. 

More than 500 villages have been emptied in the Kurdistan Region over the course of three decades of the Turkey-PKK conflict.