10 thousand soldiers, police and village guards are joining the military operation in the area between Amed's Lice, Hani, Hazro, Dicle, Kulp and Kocaköy districts and Bingöl's Genç district. As the operation continues for more than 15 days now, hundreds of villages in this territory remain under the siege of Turkish forces.

Villagers speaking to Dihaber said soldiers partaking in the operation told them that “We will be here for another while”. Villagers said soldiers are not allowing them to go out of their homes, as result of which the local people cannot grass their herds nor water their fields.

Villagers also stated that roads have been blocked with piled up stones and trenches have been dug at the entrances of villages, and soldiers allow them to go out of villages only for emergency situations.

RURAL AREAS RANDOMLY BOMBED

As the operation intensifies in the countryside of villages located between Lice and Genç, the rural areas here are being targeted by the Turkish army with random bombardments. There is an intense helicopter activity and military vehicles are intensely patrolling on Lice-Hani and Lice- Amed roads. Special units are arbitrarily stopping the cars travelling on Amed-Bingöl road and subjecting them to detailed searches.

Reports suggest that several soldiers and village guards have died during the ongoing operation.