Reports: Heavy shelling by Turkey today leaves forest areas ablaze

Above: Turkish armored vehicles at the border with Iraq in June.

Intensive Turkish artillery shelling of Kurdish villages in Duhuk

Duhuk, Jul 18, (VOI)- Turkish artillery fired in the early hours of Wednesday more than 250 shells onto areas on the Iraqi borders with Turkey, setting ablaze large areas of natural forests with no reports of casualties, a security source said.

"Turkish artillery began, today at 4:00 am, shelling areas on the borderline with Turkey in Zakho in northern Iraq," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

The source added "more than 250 artillery shells fell onto areas of Nahili, Niroi and Rikani, 70 km north of Duhuk."

These areas were targeted for the first time, said the source noting that the villages affected by the shelling were located along the 80-km-borderline with Turkey.

"It was the first time the Turkish artillery shelling was extended to include villages stretching from Zakho till Imadiyah district," the source said.
The source added that the shelling left no casualties but large areas of natural forests were set ablaze due to the shelling.

The northern Iraqi borders have been a scene of tension and repeated Turkish artillery shelling. Turkey says its forces are hunting for the banned Turkish Kurdish Workers' party fighters who hide in the border areas inside Iraq's Kurdistan.

From VOI

Artillery attack by Turkish troops, source says

Turkish troops armed with artillery bombarded several villages in Iraqi Kurdistan, near the Turkish border, at dawn on Wednesday , according to a well informed source in the area.

The source told Adnkronos International (AKI) that "the bombardment involved various villages in the al-Sanadi, Batufa, Kani Massi and Brawari Bala areas. He underlined that "more than 150 shells fell on these villages" and that "to date there is no clear information on human and material losses."

He said many inhabitants had fled south as the firing started around 4 am on Wednesday morning until it concluded around four hours later.

"Todays bombardment was the most violent since the start of this period of tension near the common border" the source said.

Read the rest at AKI

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