A father of a child who was wounded in a terrorist attack last week in northern Iraq told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the PKK terrorist group targets only civilians.
The PKK attack on Amedi town's Bamarni district in the Duhok province killed at least two civilians, according to local authorities.
"My child was injured in the attack organized by the PKK ... The PKK targets only civilians," Farhad Narvayi said, adding that he expects Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to put an end to PKK attacks in Amedi.
Narvayi said they were in their village in Bamarni at around 4:30 p.m. local time (1:30 p.m. GMT) when three mortar shells fired by PKK terrorists hit nearby.
"Two children died in the attack and my child was injured," he said.
"Everyone knows very well that the PKK is behind this. Security forces arrived on the scene and it was known that the PKK made the attack.
"The Kurdistan Regional Government (in Iraq) must act seriously to stop the PKK's attacks. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last," he stressed.
Narvayi also underlined that the PKK is constantly targeting the people of the Amedi town and the stability of the region.
PKK terrorists fired two rockets on Bamarni village in Duhok province, killing two civilians and injuring two others, said the counterterrorism unit of the KRG in a statement on Facebook.
Similarly, Warchine Suleimane, head of a local district, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that "Artillery fire targeted Bamarni sector, killing two civilians – minors – and injuring two other civilians."
Relatives said that two children aged between 10 and 13 were killed by the bombardment.
They spoke to AFP at a mosque in the town of Dohuk, where the bodies were taken for funeral preparations.
Northern Iraq is among the many PKK terrorist hideouts and bases from where they carry out attacks in Turkey. The Turkish military regularly conducts cross-border operations in northern Iraq. Turkey has long been stressing that it will not tolerate terrorist threats posed against its national security and has called on Iraqi officials to take the necessary steps to eliminate the terrorist group. Ankara previously noted that if the expected steps were not taken, it would not shy away from targeting terrorist threats.
Within this scope, Ankara has launched a series of operations against PKK terrorists in Iraq and Syria, the latest one in northern Iraq beginning in April, Claw-Lock.
It was preceded by Operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle, which were launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding in northern Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Turkey.
Since its foundation in 1984, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people in Turkey, including women, children and infants.
