Shkoi Kurdistan-
Three men, missing for over a week, were found dead on Saturday, killed in a suspected Turkish bombardment in Duhok province, family members told Shkoi Kurdistan newspaper.
Muhsin Speri, 64, went to Mount Matin 10 days ago, camping with his friends Hassan Sadiq Zeri and Safar Sini, as they often do, his brother Sleman Speri told Rudaw English on Saturday. “They are together 24/7,” he said.
Phone connection in the area is spotty, “but he [Muhsin Speri] would always find a spot where there was signal and would check in with his family,” said Speri. “When he didn’t call after 4 days, we knew something was wrong.”
“A few days ago we got news that Turkey had bombed the mountain,” he said. After receiving that news and still no phone call from Muhsin, the family set out to search for the three missing men.
Muhsin and his friends are all retired Peshmerga from Deraluk, a sub-district in Duhok’s Amedi area. Muhsin is father to 11 children, 5 sons and 6 daughters.
Turkish warplanes bombed Duhok province’s Gara Mountain last week, just west of Deraluk, causing fear among local residents. Turkey’s Ministry of Defense claimed to have killed four members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members in the area, though Kurdish officials and locals reported no casualties.
Today, Turkey’s defense ministry claimed to have “neutralized” five PKK members in airstrikes on the same region.
Turkish forces have pursued the PKK within the Kurdistan Region’s borders for years. Their current offensive was launched mid-June, with the stated aim of removing PKK fighters from the border areas. Operations have focused on areas in Duhok province where villagers living in the mountains have borne the brunt of Turkey’s bombing. Several civilians have been killed in airstrikes this year.
