New Turkish bombardment on Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian areas in northern Iraq

NOHADRA, Iraq — On Sunday, Turkish warplanes carried out new airstrikes on areas of Amadiyah district in Nohadra (Duhok) Province in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

According to eyewitnesses, on Sunday afternoon, Turkish warplanes bombed the Smati Valley behind Derishi village in Amadiyah district.

“The sound of the warplanes was heard over the inhabited village, amid a state of panic among the villagers,” the eyewitnesses added.

Turkish occupation has been conducting almost daily bombardment operations in several KRI areas.

Background

Since mid-June, Turkey has engaged in a cross-border military operation ostensibly targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which has been in armed conflict with the Turkish state since the 1980s. However, Turkish drone and air strikes have repeatedly targeted areas without a PKK presence, according to locals.

The repeated Turkish shelling have emptied a number of Christian villages along the Iraqi–Turkish border.

Human Rights Watch has criticized Turkey for the carelessness of its military operation which has killed over a dozen civilians and displaced thousands more, many of whom are Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian Christians and Yezidis.

A recent report stated that there are 102,000 Christians living there in Nineveh Plains in 2014, but their numbers have dwindled to 36,000 and could drop further by 2024 if stability and security is not established.