Many villages at the North-West Kurdistan border are being targeted by ISIS gangs while they are continuing their attacks on Kobanê town of Rojava.

One of the villages at the border that is frequently targeted by ISIS is the village of Zehwan. The village was previously targeted by a mortar attack that hit and destroyed the house of Mehmet Demir (67), as well as a rocket that destroyed the minaret of the village mosque. The gangs are now targeting the village opposite Zehwan, Kikan, where the gangs have recently taken up position.

The villagers in Zehwan are not able to go out onto the streets safely because of the gunfire by the gangs from the village of Kikan. Many houses in the village have holes in the walls because of this gunfire. Despite the existence of a military outpost at the border near the village and despite the fact that villagers complain about the attacks, Turkish soldiers remain indifferent to the attacks of the ISIS gangs on the village.

The villagers say that the gangs frequently open fire on Zehwan from the village of Kikan where the gangs have hung their flags and that they no longer have security and that they have had to send their children away from the village. The villagers who want to look at Kobanê with binoculars are targeted by the ISIS members emplaced in the buildings opposite the village. Lastly, the house of Ali Güçlü was hit by gunfire from the gangs. Ali Güçlü said that a bullet that hit the back of the house went between him and a friend of his while they were sitting in front of the house.

Güçlü said they reported the attack to the gendarme forces which came to the village, but that the soldiers maintained their indifferent attitude and left the village, merely writing a report. Güçlü added: “We are always anxious. There are soldiers at the border. But the soldiers are there only to prevent people from Rojava crossing the border. We told the authorities about the incident and officially complained about it. But we have heard nothing about it from the authorities”.