Turkish Attacks Continue in Iraqi Kurdistan // FAI ONLINE

Smoke rises from an apparent airstrike in Iraqi Kurdistan (via republicworld.com)

The Turkish offensive in Iraqi Kurdistan continues this week, as Kurdish residents in the Zakho region near the Turkish border have fled from their homes to escape the bombardment that has already claimed the lives of 5 civilians there. Reports of airstrikes have also been received from areas further south from the border. Just today, warplanes struck the town of Sidakan in Erbil province, where FAI field teams are active on a regular basis. Team leader Nathan James posted an urgent plea for prayer on social media shortly after the attack began. He reassured his followers that the team is “safe and not at risk…but my heart is breaking for our friends in Sidakan.”

Another strike was also reported on Mount Spi in western Duhok province The attack occurred only 50 kilometers from the capital city of Duhok, another hub for FAI field teams, who are ministering to the city’s 340,000 residents, including Kurds, Assyrians and other minority groups who sought refuge there during the war against ISIS.

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FAI has teams on the ground throughout Kurdistan, partnering with authorities and residents for medical care, education, aid distribution and more.

News of the latest strikes come just one week after an unidentified warplane bombed the resort community of Kuna Masi near the Iranian border. No claim of responsibility or justification for the strike was made, which caused several civilian injuries and terrified tourists on holiday.

Analysts are reporting that Turkey and Iran are working together, with the tacit agreement of the Iraqi government, to coordinate these attacks against Kurdish communities. Many are also predicting that the Turkish campaign is the beginning of a plan to establish military bases deep inside Iraqi Kurdistan, extending Turkish influence as far south as Mosul, and creating a “buffer zone” of military control, similar to the Turkish-controlled zones in Syrian Kurdistan around Afrin, Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ayn.

We ask our global partners to join us in urgent intercession, that the schemes of the Turkish and Iranian regimes against the Kurdish people would be frustrated and come to nothing, that a divine hedge would be placed around the Kurdish people and all residents of Iraqi Kurdistan, and that the leaders of the international community would be granted courage and wisdom to rightly handle Turkey’s blatant disregard for international law and human life.

Maranatha.