JINHA

ŞIRNEX – For five days, Turkish state forces have heavily bombarded a house in the town of Cizre where dozens of wounded citizens were trapped. As two ambulances set out today to retrieve the 23 surviving wounded, Turkish state forces began an intensive attack on the wounded.

Today, after five days of attempts to ensure ambulance access to dozens of wounded people in a house in Cizre, the Cizre city government sent two ambulances to the collapsing house with the knowledge of the Cizre Police Department and the Office of the District Governor. At the moment that the ambulances set out, repeated violent explosions and gunshots began in the area. Armored vehicles moved in on the building and began opening fire. The building is currently being held under mortar fire.

Mehmet Tunç, co-chair of the Cizre People’s Assembly, has been tending to the wounded trapped in the basement. Mehmet called into a television news program, saying that the state was attacking with mortars and gunfire and that “we may be executed at any moment.”

Faysal Sarıyıldız, one of the province’s MPs, provided further information on the conflict. He emphasized that the ambulances and medical teams had been sent out with the full knowledge of the police department and district governor.

“If this kind of attack began at the moment that the ambulances set out, then this is a plot,” said Faysal. He explained that the wounded were emerging to set out for an agreed-upon address to meet with medical teams when Turkish state forces began intensively opening fire on the upper floors of the building.

Concentrated mortar fire on the building is ongoing, as explosions continue in the area.

(at-ab-ma/gc/cm)