Four men were killed in alleged Turkish airstrikes on the area of Deraluk, Dohuk province, on January 22nd or 23rd, 2020, according to local sources. Two men remain missing: it is unknown if they were also killed or arrested or kidnapped. It is unclear if the men were civilians or Peshmerga.
A local “security source” reported that four civilians were killed and others wounded in the evening of January 22nd, in the province of Kurdistan after Turkish airstrikes targeted Rashawa in the area of Deira Lock of Dohuk province.
According to Alayam, witnesses told the German news agency DPA that “four of them, north of Dohuk, were killed by the Turkish aircraft bombing this evening and that a fifth citizen is still missing.” The witnesses added that “the villagers were able to find two bodies and the search is underway for the other two bodies”. Relatives of the missing citizen reported that he was also located in the mountainous area targeted tonight.
Rudaw named two of the victims and said they were in the area to fish. There is also speculation that they were Peshmerga forces.
Fazel Hawramy initially tweeted that two civilians, both of them beekeepers, were killed but later updated the death toll to four.
Babylon FM published a similar report, naming four dead civilians, two of them beekeepers. However, in the picture, one of them is shown in a military uniform.
In May 2019, CPTIK published their report after interviews with family members of the killed and missing men. The report reads “the Turkish jets struck Matin Mountain and Zele and Hetut villages for more than one hour [on January 23rd, 2019]. The airstrike resulted in 6 civilian victims, four of the bodies were recovered, but the fate of the two others is still unknown.”
The brother of one of the victims, Haidar, told CPTIK: “My brother and four others were fishing in Zele village, where there were not any Turkish military bases around. My brother was working, fishing with others, but the Turkish aeroplanes bombed the area. Two of my brother’s friends were killed and their bodies were found in that spot; but the fate of my brother and one of his friends is still unknown and we do not know whether they were injured or killed, arrested or something else. Haider and his friends were innocent.”
Haidar and Redar are still missing, the bodies of two of their friends, both named Azad, were killed. According to CPTIK, all men were Peshmerga.
Two other men were killed in the village of Hetut. CPTIK: “Bakhtyar and Zyad had started beekeeping due to the financial crisis. They were in Hetut on the 23rd of January taking care of their bees. The Turkish jets bombed the village. It took two days for their bodies to be discovered.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
