The Turkish army launched an extensive operation on Merge Ronahi hill in Hakkari’s Şemdinli district on August 26, 2016. HPG and YJA-Star guerrillas retaliating against the operation pushed the Turkish soldiers back from the region and seized many weapons.

ANF has followed the clashes in the area, talked to guerrillas who took part in the clashes and obtained images of the seized weapons.

30 SOLDIERS KILLED ON THE FIRST DAY

According to information gathered by our reporters, 30 soldiers were killed in clashes on the first day of the operation. On the second day, the guerrillas entered the hill and got into clashes with the soldiers. Three soldiers died in these clashes. Guerrilla Ronahi, who took 3 weapons from the soldiers, said: “The soldiers in the operation were very frightened. They panicked and ran with every little sound. The soldiers were very dispersed. I could see the fear and panic on their faces. They know that they can’t live in the Kurdistan mountains.”

The guerrilla forces launched a new maneuver against the Turkish army, already broken from the first two days of clashes. The guerrillas carried out actions on soldiers’ positions on the following days. The guerrillas and the soldiers on Ronahi hill clashed for hours with bombs and kalashnikovs. Senar, a guerrilla in the clashes, said the following on the clashes:

MANY WEAPONS SEIZED

“More than ten soldiers died in the action. Many soldiers ran for their lives down the hill. Guerrillas went to the bodies and took many weapons. Among these are one PKC rifle, one Dragunov-SVD rifle, two grenade launchers, binoculars, raxts and military equipment.”