Residents of Bilêxşê experience 'apocalypse' during military blockade

ÊLİH - After the lifting of the 15-day military blockade in Bilêxşê village of Kercews district, the devastation has been revealed. Residents of the village summarized the events as "apocalypse".  

 
The military operation launched on June 22 in Bilêxşê village of Kercews (Gercüş) district of Êlih ended on July 6. Many houses in the village were raided and 11 people were beaten and detained. Three people were also detained in the center of Êlih (Batman-Kurdistan) as part of the operation. While the ban on the rural areas of the village is still in effect, villagers came to Êlih city center for their detained relatives, as the bombardment and gunfire never ceased. 
 
DESTRUCTION
 
We visited the village after the blockade and observed serious destruction. Some citizens are in detention and some are in the city center, so no one lives in the village of 20 households. A lot of land in the village has been burned. There are also bullet casings in many places. 
 
According to the information we received; a big fire broke out during the operation. Large hoses used by citizens to irrigate their crops were burned in the fire. The crops either burned or dried up due to lack of water. While fire brigades were prevented from intervening in the fire, the fire was extinguished spontaneously with the rain that fell on June 23. It was learned that the rain prevented a possible disaster.
 
 
The destruction in the village is not limited to this. It is also seen that Mount Mawa, where the attacks were concentrated and located just across the village, was also destroyed by the bombardment. It is seen that large pieces of rocks from the spot, which is said to have been hit by warplanes, have fallen on the slope of the mountain. 
 
 
'LAWLESSNESS CONTINUES'
 
Residents of the village, who did not want their names to be included in the news report for security reasons, described the events as "apocalyptic". Villagers said there was intense shelling in the countryside and they could not leave their homes for days. The villagers pointed out that the crops they planted dried up and said that they faced death during the blockade. The villagers said that the unlawfulness they were experiencing continued with detentions.
 
MA / Fethi Balaman