Curfew was declared in 14 villages in Mardin’s Nusaybin district yesterday following a clash in the village of Çalı (Calê) where a soldier was killed.

Communication is interrupted with the villages in the curfew zone. According to the latest information provided by the villagers, the fire started in Çalı village following the declaration of curfew yesterday, has spread up until Hill Goran and local people are not allowed to intervene with the fire.

Sporadic clashes are taking place in the region which had been placed under curfew in July as well and mountains had been set on fire. A land of dozens of hectares burned to ashes, in addition to the vineyards and orchards of the people as result of the fire that lasted two weeks.

Soldiers are preventing the local people from leaving their homes and have laid a siege on the villages, also threatening the villagers that want to stop the fire from spreading.

An inhabitant of the Çalı (Calê) village said the following regarding the latest situation in the area: “Sounds of arms do not cease. Fire broke out with the eruption of clashes. We cannot go out of our homes. We cannot even look outside through our windows. The fire is spreading rapidly but we are not allowed to intervene. Soldiers are everywhere in the village. They might be raiding houses. The previous fire of July burned our fields to the ground and the remaining areas are on fire now. We want something to be done.”

In the meantime, ambulances are not allowed to access the villages under curfew and siege on the governor’s order. An inhabitant of Kuruköy (Xarabê Bava) village was kept waiting for hours as no ambulance reached him when he fell sick on Monday. The villager was then driven out the village by the inhabitants, and taken to Nusaybin Public Hospital.