In the night of December 15 to December 16, the fascist Turkish army, warmongering for months, started to bomb civil targets in Kandil. War planes started from Diyarbakir and bombed the villages and small towns around the area of the Kandil mountains at 1am. At this attack, 15 villages, one school and one hospital were totally destroyed.
The chief of general staff claimed that the target of the bombings were the PKK camps and that no cilvilians had been injured in the attack. Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that the cross-border operation had been successful, that the Turkish Air Force hit their target and that ground troops supported the strike. Spokeswoman of the US embassy Kathy Schalow settled for saying the following comment on the operation: "We are actively working together with Turkey in terms of the struggle against the PKK."
The central headquarters of the HPG (People`s Defense Forces) made a statement in which it is stated that the attack was realised with the USA`s intelligence: "After the 1-month period of reconnaissance of the scout planes, the regions of Kandil, Xınêre, Xakurkê, Avaşîn, Zap, Çemço and Metina were bombed by dozens of war planes from 1am to 3.30am. Our regions of Xakurkê, Avaşîn, Zap and Metina had to face heavy attacks with shells of obus type. These attacks killed altogether 7 people, five of our guerrilla and two civilians. Three guerrillas were injured slightly. Many civilians, among them the majority of women and children, living in the villages Mereto, Kalatuka and other near-by villages of the Kandil region, were injured, too. Many houses and schools were destroyed, too, and many cattles perished." HPG announced a more detailed statements for later on.