Three road construction workers killed in PKK attack in Turkey’s Şırnak

ŞIRNAK / ANKARA

Three road construction workers were killed in an armed attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Şırnak on Aug. 28, according to the governor’s office.        

The militants attacked workers on a road construction site in the Düğündağı neighborhood of the Uludere district at around 8.30 p.m., killing three of them, the Şırnak Governor’s Office stated.

The workers were identified as Kadri Oslu, Ramazan Yakut and Cangir Yılmaz, Doğan News Agency reported.

Security forces launched an operation in the area to apprehend the militants responsible for the attack.        
In addition, Turkish warplanes conducted an air operation in a rural area of the Başkale district of the eastern province of Van on Aug. 28, “neutralizing” two PKK militants there.

Separately, the Interior Ministry announced on Aug. 28 that security forces have “neutralized” a total of 34 PKK militants in operations over the past week.

During the operations, 22 of the militants were killed, two were captured and 10 surrendered, according to a statement issued by the ministry.      

More than 2,849 detentions were made in some 1,094 operations conducted between Aug. 21 and Aug. 28, it stated.     

They include the arrest of 127 suspects for aiding the PKK, 44 for alleged ties to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), 400 for potential links to the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO), and 14 who allegedly joined far-left terrorist organizations, the statement added.  
    
Also last week, security forces destroyed nine shelters used by PKK militants, and 27 mines and explosives in the southeastern provinces of Hakkari and Diyarbakır and the eastern province of Bingöl.      

They also seized 351 kilograms of explosive materials and heavy ammunition.  
    
Earlier on Aug. 27, security forces had killed another two PKK militants in an air-supported operation in the rural area of the Hizan district of the eastern province of Bitlis, while one security guard was slightly injured in the armed clash. Another seven PKK militants were “neutralized” in the Van, Muş and Erzincan provinces.