The press centre of the People's Defence Forces (HPG) reported that the Turkish army continues to try to break the resistance of the guerrillas in the strategically important area of Çemço in the Zap region with chemical weapons, unconventional bombs and air strikes. "The Turkish colonial army cannot prevail in the face of the historically almost unprecedented resistance of the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla and continues to attack our positions in a massive way with banned bombs and chemical weapons. Despite these attacks and the harsh climate conditions, the Freedom Guerrilla of Kurdistan continues its resistance without interruption,” said the HPG in a statement on Thursday.

According to HPG information, a mobile guerrilla unit struck Turkish troops near the village of Sîda in the Zap region with a heavy weapon on 10 January. Sîda, like Çemço, is located in the Sheladize sub-district near the town of Amadiya and belongs to the Duhok province. The Turkish army used unconventional bombs and chemical weapons against guerrilla positions in Çemço twelve times on 11 January. Sîda and Çemço were also bombed six times by fighter jets and attacked several times with howitzers, tanks and heavy weapons on Wednesday. Guerrilla positions in the resistance area of Kurojahro and near the village of Saca were bombed a total of eight times by attack helicopters on the same day.

The Turkish army withdrew from large parts of the Zap region on 11 and 12 December. In the west of the Zap region, the occupation forces are now only present at Girê Hekarî and Girê FM. East of the river, the army also had to withdraw from the peaks of Kurojahro, from Saca, from Girê Şehîd Sîpan and the Şehîd Kuncî area. According to HPG commander Murat Karayilan, there are no enemy troops left in the area around the Zap River except for the hills of Rêwan and Şoreş.

Because the Turkish army has no successes to report in the Zap, it is trying to capture areas in the Avaşîn region further to the east. To do this, the resistance in Çemço and Sîda must be broken. In a radio address to the guerrillas a few days ago, Karayilan described the fortress of Çemço as a "dagger in the heart of the enemy". Turkey is attacking this area with all the means of combat at its disposal "in order not to disgrace itself once again in the Zap".