Roboski Villagers Rush to Help Soldiers Injured in Accident

A civilian minibus carrying soldiers rolled over from the shoulder of a road in the southeastern province of Şırnak, killing the driver and nine troops on Tuesday. The relatives of the victims of last year's Roboski massacre helped the injured and carried them off to a hospital.

The minibus was carrying troops from the Gülyazı village garrison in Uludere to the district center, according to reports.

Şırnak Governor Vahdettin Özkan announced that nine troops and the driver, a local guard hired by the military, lost their lives in the accident.

Some 34 civilians from the villages of Gülyazı (Bujeh) and Ortasu (Roboski) in Şırnak's Uludere district had lost their lives on Dec. 28, 2011 in consequence of a botched air strike by the Turkish Air Force, but no military or civilian officials have yet been called to account for the deadly bombing.

The villagers were reportedly waiting for Ahmet Türk, an independent Kurdish deputy from the southeastern province of Mardin, at a nearby location when the accident happened.

The vehicle was carrying 21 troops in all, Ferhat Encü said in his Twitter account. Encü had  lost a number of his relatives in the Roboski massacre, and law enforcement officials have taken him under custody six times over since then.

Despite the government officials' failure to lend the victims of the Roboski massacre a helping hand on the day of the air strike, the villagers themselves rushed in to aid the wounded troops yesterday, Encü said, adding that the Turkish military itself was yet to reach the area to help those injured in the accident. (HK/EKN)