Ministry of National Defense announces: 'PKK terrorists have started burning forests'
The Ministry of National Defense (MSB) has announced that members of the PKK terrorist organization are attempting to escape by setting fire to forests in northern Iraq to prevent their hideouts from being detected.
İHA
In a written statement issued by the Ministry, it was stated, “The terrorists, who use civilians in the village of Dergele as human shields and fire mortars at our units, have started setting fire to forests so that their locations cannot be detected.
Knowing the sensitivity of our Turkish Armed Forces toward civilians and residential areas, the terrorists, who both use villagers as human shields and set fire to forests to hide, are trying to endanger the civilian population in northern Iraq, just as they have done for years,” the statement read.
The statement continued, “The PKK terrorists are also trying to deceive the local population in the areas they set on fire with lies claiming that 'the forests were burned as a result of fire opened by the Turkish Armed Forces.' At the same time, the terrorists are endangering the lives and property of civilians by opening fire in the villages they enter.
No matter what the terrorist organization does, the sensitivity of our Turkish Armed Forces toward civilians, residential areas, the environment, and nature will continue. The terrorists, however, will not be able to escape the grip of the Mehmetçik.”