32 PKK militants ‘neutralized’ over past week in Turkey
ANKARA
Security forces “neutralized” 32 militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in operations across Turkey last week, the Interior Ministry stated on Dec. 4.
The authorities use the word “neutralized” in statements to imply that the militants in question were either killed, wounded or captured.
The weekly briefing note indicated that 11 of the militants were killed, one was captured and five surrendered during counterterrorism operations across Turkey between Nov. 27 and Dec. 4.
A total of 1,438 operations were also carried out against the PKK last week, the ministry stated.
During the operations, over 565 kilograms of explosives, 112 guns, 40 hand grenades and 57,128 ammunition cartridges were seized, the ministry said.
Moreover, 51 caves used by PKK militants, 19 improvised explosives and a weapon emplacement were also destroyed, it added.
Bilal Serhat Sarıtaş (codenamed “Serdem” and category orange on the authorities’ wanted list), Sehabettin Nasa (codenamed “Sores” and category grey on the wanted list), and Hamdusena Atala, reportedly a high-level PKK figure, were captured during the operations, according to the ministry.
The wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories with red designating the most wanted targets followed by blue, green, orange and grey.
In addition, nationwide operations saw a total of 4,505 suspects detained, including 982 terror suspects, 114 migrants and 3,409 suspects involved in drugs and smuggling, the Interior Ministry statement added.
