Source:
IRIN
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for
the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views
expressed are the author's alone.
Hundreds of Iraqi Kurds have been forced to
flee their homes after up to 30,000 Turkish soldiers massed on the Iraqi-Turkish
border and launched attacks against Kurdish fighters, Iraqi border police say.
Local aid agencies said Kurdish fighters had prevented them from entering the
villages, which were being targeted.
"The bombardments have forced hundreds to abandon their homes and leave for
safer areas. Some houses were looted by Kurdish fighters, according to witnesses
in the area," said Rastgo Muhammad Barsaz, spokesman for the non-governmental
organisation Kurdistan Campaign to Help Victims of War.
"Dashati Takhe village, on the border near Zakho, is one of the most affected
areas. We have been informed of civilian causalities but we don't know how many,
as we are being denied access to the area. But by telephone, civilians have told
us they are short of food and water," Barsaz said.
