The Turkish army has blocked several access roads to villages in the town of Batîfa southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq). According to RojNews agency report on Thursday evening, citing local sources, residents were denied access to their fields and gardens.
Since early Thursday morning, the Turkish military has significantly stepped up its activities in Batîfa and stationed troops at several strategic points. Among those affected are the villages of Şidne, Keşane, Şilane, Evlaho, Pîrbele, Bandore, and Banke. The closures reportedly continued into the evening hours.
No official statement on the measure has been issued yet. Neither the Iraqi central government in Baghdad nor the Kurdish regional government in Hewlêr (Erbil) have commented on the events so far.
Batîfa (also Batufa) is located about 20 kilometers from the Turkish border and administratively belongs to the Duhok Governorate. In the course of ongoing occupation operations and the crackdown on guerrilla forces, residential areas are regularly attacked, often from a Turkish army base located on the northern outskirts of the city.
The area is also frequently targeted by Turkish border guards. The government in Ankara justifies its attacks in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) by claiming that Kurdish guerrillas pose a “threat to national security.” However, under the guise of “fighting terrorism,” civilian settlements are often deliberately bombed.