Soldiers of the Turkish army raided villages surrounding the Durak outpost in Hakkari's Şemdinli district in the wake of last week's bombing which greatly demolished the outpost.

Gendarme special operations teams gathered up 30 people from Tise, Melaya, Helank and Deman villages, including the village headmen, subjected them to physical violence and later detained them.

The 30 locals were tortured in front of their families and then brought to Şemdinli district to the accompaniment of village guards. The villagers were released after 3-4 days of interrogation, with bruises on all their bodies and two among them having suffered fractures.

While the siege on the villages continues, the road leading to 4 villages were closed to traffic with trenches. Access to 4 villages has been banned and students cannot go to their schools in Şemdinli district centre due to the ongoing road closure.