110 PKK militants, one soldier killed in southeastern clashes

ANKARA

DHA Photo

Some 110 militants have been killed during operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern provinces of Şırnak, Diyarbakır and Mardin, state-run Anadolu Agency has claimed. 

One soldier who was wounded in clashes in Şırnak’s Cizre district died on Dec. 20, the Turkish Armed Forces said in a written statement. Another soldier was killed during clashes in the Sur district of Diyarbakır on Dec. 19. 

Gendarmerie soldier Yaşar Yeniören was killed in Sur on Dec. 19 during clashes with what government says are members of the PKK. He will be laid to rest in Istanbul on Dec. 20.

Some 78 militants were killed in Cizre during the first four days of operations amid an ongoing siege, Anadolu agency reported on Dec. 19, citing military sources.

Security forces killed six militants in the Silopi district of Şırnak, while 16 others were killed in Sur. Ten militants were also killed in the Dargeçit district of Mardin province, according to the agency.

Meanwhile, Turkish Armed Forces said in its statement that 18 militants were killed on Dec. 19 during operations in Cizre, Silopi and Sur.

Some 23 security forces, including police officers, were wounded in Diyarbakır and Şırnak operations.

Two senior officials from YDG-H, youth wing of outlawed PKK militant group, were also killed during the operations in Cizre.

A curfew was imposed on Cizre and Silopi on Dec. 14. 

Some 10,000 troops backed by tanks have been deployed in the southeast to try to rout young PKK supporters from urban areas.

The operation, which has targeted Cizre, Silopi and Sur, began on Dec. 16, according to the army.

On Dec. 18, the military also carried out air strikes on PKK “hideouts” and “weapons sites” across the border in northern Iraq, where the outlawed group has its rear bases.