Thursday, December 29, 2011 – At least 30 people have been reported killed following air raids by Turkish warplanes near a Kurdish village close to the with Iraq.
Mayor of Uludere in Sirnak province Fehmi Yaman said, “We have 30 corpses, all of them are burned. The state knew that these people were smuggling in the region. This kind of incident is unacceptable. They were hit from the air.”
According to local officials, drums of diesel carried by the group had exploded.
Turkish warplanes strike militant targets regularly in the region in their battle against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas, and have stepped up raids after a PKK attack in August.
In the meantime, a Turkish security official said, “There were rumors that the PKK would cross through this region. Images were recorded of a crowd crossing last night, hence an operation was carried out.”
The source further added, “We could not have known whether these people were (PKK) group members or smugglers.”
Turkish military launched an operation in northern Iraq in October after a PKK attack killed 24 soldiers in the town of Cukurca near the Iraqi border, the army’s biggest loss since 1993.
PKK fighters usually launch attacks on Turkish targets from their rear bases in northern Iraq.
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