A Turkish aerial strike killed a farmer in the village of Gallale, in the Sulaymaniyah governate of Iraqi Kurdistan, during the night of 13 April. Gallale is part of the Şarbajêr (Sharbazher) district. The farmer, named Muhammed Saîd, was from Suleimaniyah but had reportedly come to the village for work.
Turkish warplanes also bombed the villages of Guherze and Bilava in the Amediyê district of Duhok.
Community Peacemaker Teams in Iraqi Kurdistan (CPT-IK) posted a video on X showing villagers retrieving the man’s body from his home.
Last night, Turkish fighter jets bombed a civilian house in Gallala village in Sulaimani governorate and killed a farmer inside his home.
This footage shows the remnants of the house including a burnt Quran and villagers retrieving the body and transporting it to the hospital. pic.twitter.com/Icbpo0az6C
— CPT Iraqi Kurdistan (@cptiraq) April 14, 2024
This is the second time the village of Gallale has been targeted by Turkish forces during 2024. In January a Turkish attack destroyed the home of Ebdûlqadir Husên Tale, though no casualties were reported.
One villager told CPT-IK at the time:
“No one feels safe in our village anymore. The drones constantly hover over our village. We are afraid of being targeted at all times.”
Iraqi Kurdistan comes under constant bombardment from Turkish aerial strikes, with a stated intention to target Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in the mountainous border region, but little or no attempt has been made to prevent the killing of civilians.
Turkish forces struck the region 358 times between 1 January and 1 April. Iranian state forces carried out a further 15 strikes during the same period. Medya News’ Sinan Önal condemned Turkey’s aerial attacks as a “blatant violation of international law.”
The killing on 13 April is part of a wider Turkish operation aimed at preventing the PKK from moving freely through the area close to the Turkish border. The Turkish state is currently occupying part of the border region, penetrating up to 40km inside Iraqi Kurdistan. Turkish forces have established over 60 military bases in the area.
CPT-IK estimates that aerial attacks have already killed at least four civilians this year, and seriously injured another. The majority of these strikes have been in the area around the Gara mountain, where Turkish operations aim to force local villagers to leave their homes in the area. This act of forcible displacement would facilitate further Turkish attacks on Gara.
