NEWS FROM THE FRONT

"Given the current situation of active fighting and no prospect of peace, this decision from the Kongra-Gel/HPG to renounce the use of AP mines is significant. It reflects the will of the Kongra-Gel/HPG to commit itself to respect certain rules of behaviour during warfare and to spare civilians from the effects of landmines. We will follow up the implementation of this humanitarian commitment and we call upon the Government of Turkey to facilitate our work on the ground."
~ Elisabeth Reusse-Decrey, President, Geneva Call.

TSK has a plan for minefield identification and clearing, from Taraf:

Let Civilians enter the minefields first

Şırnak Brigade Command General Ahmet Yavuz released an immediate order for precautions against mine attacks: Use the most frequently mined roads indirectly rather than directly, use the roads after civilian vehicles pass through, enter such mined regions after shepherds and civilian passengers use them.

First shepherds and passengers enter

In order to reduce the casualties from mines that have been planted by PKK in The East, it turned out that civilians would be pushed forward. In a top secret document signed by Şırnak Brigade Command's General Ahmet Yavuz, there were the following suggestions to reduce troop casualties: first sending civilians to the minefields, sending civilian vehicles on roads where the possibility of the existence of mines are high. and appointing trained dogs to such regions.

In addition to these suggestions, there is a demand to use Claymore mines, which are banned by international law.

Apparently, these decisions were made after a meeting of Şırnak Brigade Headquarters, which the unit commanders, headquarter lieutenants and battalion commanders had attended at the beginning of June 2007. This meeting came about as the result of two mine explosions which resulted in the deaths of six Turkish soldiers and another in which eight were wounded. These explosions occured in May and June 2007.

The top secret document, numbered HRK:7130-115-07 / (58557), was sent to İkizce and Doğanköy units, Şırnak Province Jandarma Command, Jandarma Special Operations Battalion Command, and Jandarma Security Protection Command.

Taraf obtained a copy of the document and, among the suggested solutions to the problem of regional minefields, was the following:

The roads and regions where mine and hand-made explosives are intensively used must be constantly surveilled; instead of going into those regions directly, an indirect strategy must be implemented; such roads must be used after opened to civilian vehicle traffic; such regions must be entered after shepherd and passenger use.

Why am I not surprised that NATO's second largest army, the TSK, is, once again, engaging in war crimes?

HPG stopped using anti-personnel mines in 2006, although it still uses command-detonated mines.

Now some news from the front. Note: the front is everywhere.

At the beginning of September, operations were continuing in Bingöl. Thirty-six Turkish soldiers were killed, one of whom was a major and nineteen were Special Team members.

This HPG operation occured on 2 September against the Tevzan Garrison in Kiğı of Bingöl. According to statements from HPG-BİM, the operation started with an infilitration at 1800 hours that encircled the garrison. The garrison was targeted from three points. All the materials in the garrison's yard were destroyed, including one artillery gun.

An hour and a half into the attack, Cobras arrived on the scene. One Sikorsky, which came to intervene and contained one major and twenty Special Team members, came under intense fire from our guerrıllas while trying to land in the garrison yard. It was downed by our guerrillas and exploded. There were no survivors of the explosion.

The war balance from this operation included four Turkish officers, one of whom was a major, and thirty-six enemy soldiers killed. Twenty-six were wounded.

There were four HPG şehîds as a result of this operation. BİM tells the struggle of the operation's commander Ahmet Tevfik (Kahraman Haseki) as follows:

"Comrade Kahraman Haseki was seriously wounded. Despite the other comrades' insistence that they take him [out of the operation area for medical attention], he rejected this offer and his final words were 'Say hello to all comrades. We took revenge for the Bingöl şehîds. Bijî Serok Apo!' Our comrade exploded his grenade and entered martyrdom. In addition to his martyrdom, our comrades İrfan Gündoğan (Munzur Sara), Şirzat Paşar (Sefkan Çiya), and Derviş Köşker (Özgür Roni) were martyred.

Kahraman Haseki had been a guerrilla for 15 years.

On 4, 5, and 6 September, operations continued in Hakkari, Şırnak, and Bingöl, in which eight soldiers and one JITEM were killed. Clashes between our guerrillas and the TSK in areas of Yüksekova, Hakkari on 5 September resulted in the death of four soldiers, with one wounded. On the same day, in Şırnak, Navyana Şeyxan garrison, YJA-STAR forces engaged in a clash with the TSK that resulted in two sergeants and three soldiers killed, and two soldiers wounded. On the same day in the Bingöl region, one JITEM and two soldiers were killed, and one wounded. On 6 September, in Kato Jirka of Beytüşşebap, operations were ongoing, including an operation initiated by TSK.

On 7 and 8 September, in two separate operations, HPG forces killed three enemy soldiers and wounded five others. On 8 September, a TSK command center was targeted by HPG in the Meydan Kolyan area, which was coordinating the Kato Jirka operation. The command center contained 15 officers, which were HPG's targets. Eight enemy soldiers were killed and seven wounded by HPG at the command center. After the operation, three helicopters came to remove the dead and wounded. Meanwhile, on 7 September in an operation in Şemdinli, HPG forces killed six soldiers and three village guards. Two of the dead soldiers were officers. The bodies were under the control of our guerrillas.

On 7 September, in villages of the Dicle district of Amed (Diyarbakır), three enemy soldiers were killed and two wounded. On 8 September in the Beytüşşebap district of Şırnak, YJA-STAR forces launched rocket attacks and heavy arms fire against police housing. Casualties from this attack have not yet been confirmed.

HPG has confirmed all of the şehîds from clashes on 16 and 28 August in the region of Bitlis, as follows:

Şehîd nemirin!