Police and military attack on Silvan takes a heavy toll

09:55

JINHA

AMED - As Turkish police and soldiers pulled out of neighborhoods in the Kurdish town of Silvan yesterday, damage was severe. At least four are reported to have died and many are wounded.

The town of Silvan, located in Diyarbakır province in Northern Kurdistan (in Turkey), was engulfed in clashes yesterday after police and soldiers attacked the town. Clashes began around 9:00 p.m. Monday evening and intensified at 4 a.m. Tuesday, as police and soldiers attempted to overcome the trenches that youth had dug to defend their neighborhoods.

The heaviest clashes took place in the Tekel and Mescit neighborhoods, where several homes and shops were completely razed. The neighborhood bears the scars of rocket launcher attacks and bullet holes.

An elderly woman died after special operations teams threw a grenade into the home of the Can family. Fatma Can reported that the family had fled the house one day before. "If we had been in the house, we would have been killed. My little baby would have died in her cradle," said Fatma. At the sound of the explosion in the Can home, 80-year-old woman Hanife Durak (living across the street) had a heart attack. Hanife could not be saved.

76-year-old Remziye Sarılı of the Tekel neighborhood reported that police in armored vehicles were roaming her neighborhood, using the speaker to broadcast obscenities and the phrase "Allahu Akbar" in the streets as they attacked. When clashes ceased, the armored vehicles ordered the people into the streets. Civilians, fearing that police would then attack them, remained inside, Remziye reported.

Snipers posted in the town shot two young women, 20-year-old Handan Altunterun (who was sitting in front of her house) and Ayşe Topdemir. The two women are in good condition and being treated in their homes.

A delegation of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) representatives began investigations yesterday evening, although civilians remained confined to their homes due to the ongoing curfew.

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