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Turkey

Turkey: the battle for Cizre

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By Euronews  with Reuters, AFP
Turkey: the battle for Cizre
  • Operations in Cizre, Silopi and Sur
  • 261 PKK fighters killed – Turkish military
  • ECHR gives Ankara until Jan 8 to explain curfew

What is happening?

Turkish tanks are pounding Kurdish militant outposts as part of a military campaign to push the group back in the country’s southeast.

We are heading out of town

Observers say it is some of the worst violence in the predominantly Kurdish area since the 1990s.

Residents flee for their lives

Locals are fleeing for their lives, taking only what they can carry.

“We are heading out of town,” said one woman, “They are using tanks to shell us and attack us with mortars. We must go to another region.”

The fighting in numbers

The head of Turkey’s armed forces says at least 261PKK fighters have been killed in an ongoing operation in Cizre, Sur and Silopi.

Cizre

Three militant fighters have been killed and three more captured in the ongoing operation in Cizre.

179 militants have been killed in the region so far.

Silopi

Five militants have been killed here, according to the official military account.

27 militant fighters have been “eliminated” in the region.

Sur

One militant has been killed and three barricades have been destroyed, according to military reports.

A total of 55PKK fighters have been killed in the operations so far.

What about human rights?

Concerns have been raised about the human rights implications of the military operation in the Cizre region, in particularly the imposition of a curfew.

The European Court of Human Rights has given Ankara until the 8th of January to give more details about its reasons for the curfew.

What people are saying?