Assyrian Christian village targeted by Turkish jet bombings while nearby Muslim village left unharmed

Turkish jets bombed an Assyrian village located in Iraq over the weekend, in lieu of the recent infiltration of Kurdish PKK fighters who entered the area.

The jets dropped bombs at Upper Sharanish in northern Iraq, causing around 25 Assyrian families to flee the village in fear. They were forced to temporarily relocate to Zakho.

While the Assyrian village, inhabited mostly by Christians, was bombed, Lower Sharanish, a village that is completely Muslim, was not targeted by the Turkish bombers.

Louis Sako, a Chaldean Patriarch, condemned the bombings and asked for the Turkish government to respect the people who are living in the village, as well as their properties and livelihood.

This is not the first time that Upper Sharanish was bombed by Turkish jets. In August 2015, the Christian village was one of the seven Assyrian villages that were targeted by the bombers. 

The targeted villages include Sharanish, Baz, Barwary Bala, Hayes, Dawoodiya and Margerija. The Assyrian International News Agency reported that the PKK's presence in the area has continued to pose threats against the villages' inhabitants.

"The airplanes are over our heads. They bomb the area and we do not know where we can escape to," said a displaced Assyrian.

Dawoodiya has a refugee camp of more than 700 displaced families, of which 20 percent are Assyrians from Mosul and the Nineveh Plain, AINA reported.

While both airstrikes did not result in injuries or fatalities, they did cause major damage to property.