Villages evacuated amid Turkey-PKK clashes

Описание: (5 Sep 2019) LEAD IN:
Villages in the Zakho district of Iraq have been evacuated amid Turkish clashes with the PKK.
Turkish forces launched an operation against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which operates in the area.

STORY-LINE:
The village of Parakh is deserted.
Its residents have all been told to leave for their own safety.
Located close to the border with Turkey, it is at risk of getting caught in the crossfire between Turkish forces and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
The PKK has been waging an insurgency for more than three decades, and is considered a terror group by Turkey and its allies.
Ali Osman Silo and Abdulla Tetar are among the few villagers still here.
"I arrived at the checkpoint and they were stopping the cars and turning them back. They were saying it is forbidden to cross to the other side," says Silo.
"They said Ali, I said yes, there is something going on, your family is in the village, so you can go and pick them up and take them out of the village."
The PKK is based in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq.
Turkish jets regularly bomb the Kurdish group's camps.
Tetar says the village occasionally gets caught up in the fighting.
"This valley was hit by shells and the area here caught fire so we rushed to put the fire out. Otherwise the planes are flying in and out over our heads," he says.
"Thanks to God, they haven't hit us. They and the artilleries are hitting the area surrounding us."
Parakh is one of 15 villages in Zakho district that have been evacuated amid Turkish army activity.
Turkey launched Operation Claw 3 on August 23, the third phase of a campaign targeting PKK fighters.
The only people left in the villages are farmers like Haji Mahmoud Muho who have stayed to tend to their crops.
"We have been told to leave because there will be a Turkish advancement," he says.
"If you go and walk all around the village you won't find two people. Everyone took their wives and kids away."
The order to evacuate came from the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Last month, Turkey's official news agency reported that three Turkish soldiers had been killed in northern Iraq in clashes with the militants.
Anadolu Agency, citing the Turkish Defense Ministry, said another seven soldiers were wounded and hospitalised.

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