Male and female militia in the People’s Protection Units (HPG, the armed wing of the PKK), keep watch in the region of Metina, Iraqi Kurdistan (Uncredited, via rojinfo.com).
The Turkish military is intensifying a new offensive across the northern districts of Duhok Governate. Operations Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt, which began April 23, are aimed at establishing new bases inside Iraqi Kurdistan and combating the presence of Kurdish PKK militia embedded throughout the rugged terrain near the Turkish border.
Video and eyewitness reports of Turkish airstrikes around the community of Metina in Northern Duhok began surfacing last Friday, and fighting has escalated since Sunday. PKK media described a coordinated, 3-axis advance of “invaders” (i.e. Turkish military units in Kurdistan), to which both male and female Kurdish units responded with armed drones and small arms fire.
Meanwhile, Turkish bombardment continued around the villages of Kesta and Chalke, west of Metina. Kesta was evacuated on May 3rd, as many residents fled to the nearby village of Chalke, home to around 14 Christian families. However, the Turkish operation has expanded to the environs of Chalke as well this week, forcing most of its residents to evacuate. FAI field team members interviewed some eyewitnesses who described a cordon of Turkish troops around the town before airstrikes caused them to flee in panic. The PKK is not active inside the village.
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One woman who spoke to FAI personnel was a widow with two special needs children. Like the rest of the village, her livelihood is dependent upon agricultural production, which is impossible as long as her family is displaced. She does not know if her home is still standing. An FAI team leader in the Duhok region described the ongoing predicament of Kurds and other minorities in the Duhok region as “weird,” as Turkish military activity becomes more and more normative in his area of operation.
We would ask the Maranatha global family to continue in prayer for the people of Iraqi Kurdistan. They are truly the “harassed and helpless” on whom Jesus had compassion, and we are immensely thankful for the access that we have been granted to minister to them. Please pray that, as Turkish aggression continues to mount, the Light of the World will have opportunity to shine more brightly among the Kurdish people by our witness.
Maranatha.
