Murder, arms dealing, extortion, and other crimes by village guards are part of daily life in Kurdistan. But now these allegations, known by the Kurds for years, have been officially confirmed by the government in Diyarbakir. A total of 3,687 village guards presently face charges for the offences listed above, although the actual number is probably far higher. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Many village guards seek to become rich as quickly as possible.
Many have founded their own mafias with ties to the government. This crash exposed for all to see the links between the state and the mafia.