An urban guerilla group has claimed responsibility for an action that targeted a Turkish military barracks in Istanbul. The attack was a retaliation for Kurdish civilians killed by security forces in Cizre, Şırnak four years ago, said the group.
An urban guerilla group of the Kurdish-Turkish alliance " Peoples’ United Revolutionary Movement" (Halkların Birleşik Devrim Hareketi, HBDH) has claimed responsibility for an action that targeted a military barracks in Istanbul. The retaliatory action against the "Albay İbrahim Kendirli" barracks was carried out by the "Şehîd Çiyager Vengeance Unit" on Friday evening, according to a statement by the group. After several successive explosions, a fire also broke out in the barracks.
"While our forces were able to retreat to their base without any losses after the action, several bombs exploded under the writing 'A strong army, a strong Turkey' (Turkish Güçlü Ordu, Güçlü Türkiye). As a result, dozens of police units were dispatched to the area. In addition, ambulances and firefighters from all over the city were called in," the statement said. The urban guerrilla group did not provide any information about the injured or dead. While Turkey's National Ministry of Defense reported the incident as "a small fire", critical media confirmed that there had been several explosions in the barracks.
Regarding the background of the action, the group said: "We dedicate this action to the people who have been victims of massacres by the Turkish state in the death basements of Cizre.”
Between the years 2015 and 2016 there was a 79-day curfew in the Cizre district of Şırnak province in northern Kurdistan. During this period hundreds of inhabitants of the city were killed by the police and military. February 7, 2016 marks one of the cruelest episodes of these attacks. Turkish security forces poured petrol into the basements of apartment buildings where dozens of people were locked up and burned alive.
The group also vowed further retaliatory strikes in its statement: "The enemies of the peoples and the fascists should know that they are not safe from our revenge even in their barracks, fortresses protected by several weapons and tanks. Our retaliation for the dead men and women of Cizre, for the children whose bodies had to be kept in freezers, for those resisting whose bodies were desecrated, and for the cities that were razed to the ground with bombs, is not over yet.”
