JINHA

ŞIRNEX – As Turkish state forces maintain a siege on the town of Cizre, state forces have introduced an unknown chemical agent into the sewers. Meanwhile, there has been no contact with a building where nine residents burned to death since yesterday evening.

For 55 days, Turkish state forces have maintained a total siege on the town of Cizre. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed in the town. In the past, Turkish state forces shut down sewage and water lines in the town with the excuse that “the PKK is using them.” Now, state forces have introduced an unknown chemical agent into sewage lines. The chemical agent, which has a smell similar to tear gas, has entered residents’ homes through water drains in kitchens and baths. Meanwhile, state forces have shut down the last remaining markets, bakeries and pharmacies in the town “until further notice.”

For seven days, there has been no contact with the “basement of atrocity” in the town’s Cudi neighborhood, where 15 wounded (civilians among them) and seven dead bodies have been trapped by a state siege. For 15 days, all efforts to get an ambulance to the besieged basement have been fruitless.

Most recently, on February 4, municipal ambulances got as far as the street on which the basement is located. However, state forces began artillery fire on the neighborhood as soon as the ambulance arrived, then gave healthcare workers the excuse that “there are clashes.”

Two days ago, it emerged that 37 wounded were trapped in yet another basement elsewhere in the Cudi neighborhood. As state forces fired artillery at the building, a fire broke out. Firefighters were blocked by state forces who once again used the excuse of “clashes.” As the fire spread into the basement, nine died and many were severely burned, children among them. A 16-year-old boy who emerged from the building yesterday to survey the area was shot dead by state forces, raising the death toll to 10 in two days.

The governor of Şırnak province, in which Cizre is located, made a statement regarding the deaths of the nine wounded in the basement. The statement claimed that, “nine terrorists were disabled in a clash that broke out when terrorist organization members attacked.” The statement claimed that the “fleeing terrorists” lit the building on fire and prevented ambulances from entering the area.

There has been no contact with the building where the fire took place since yesterday evening.

(ekip/fk/cm)