Residents return to devastated Turkey town as curfew lifted

Residents of Cizre in southeastern Turkey began returning home Wednesday after authorities partially lifted a curfew in place since December for a controversial operation against Kurdish rebels which left many homes destroyed. 

Horrified residents found scenes of devastation and entire buildings in ruins following the clashes between the army and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) while others had their exterior walls blown out, AFP correspondents said.

The regional governor's office announced Tuesday that the curfew in the mainly-Kurdish town -- in place since mid December -- would be lifted each day between 5 am and 7:30pm (0300-1730 GMT).

Thousands of residents carrying their belongings formed long queues at the entrance of the townwhere checkpoints had been put up, an AFP correspondent said. 

"We fled on December 14 along with our kids, only taking our clothes we wore. Nothing else," said Hadi Akyurek, a local shopkeeper. 

"Our house was destroyed. Our belongings remained under the rubble. We are left with nothing."

The damage was even visible from the entrance of Cizre, with houses burned and shops destroyed. 

People could be seen trying to recover their belongings from the rubble and checking for any corpses. In normal times, Cizre is home to some 100,000 people.

Five corpses were pulled from the debris on Wednesday alone, two from basements and three from a garden.