14 PKK militants ‘neutralized’ in southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq

HAKKARİ – Anadolu Agency

At least 14 outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants were neutralized in Turkey’s southeastern Hakkari province and northern Iraq over a period of two days, the provincial governor’s office and the military said on July 9.

Turkish authorities use the word “neutralized” to indicate the militants in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

In a statement, the governor’s office said two militants were neutralized in Hakkari on July 8 at 1:30 p.m. local time (2230GMT). One of the militants was neutralized in a drone strike carried out in a rural area of Hakkari. During search and sweep operations in the region, gendarmerie and special forces neutralized another militant on the same day.

ne day later, on July 9, six more militants were killed in a drone strike in the village of Uğuraçan in Hakkari’s Şemdinli district at around 3:30 p.m. local time (1230 GMT).

Counter-terror operations against the PKK are ongoing in the region, added the statement.

Another statement by the Turkish General Staff said their jets neutralized six more militants in rural Hakkari and the northern Iraqi region of Gara.

Airstrikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq have been carried out regularly since July 2015, when a peace process between Ankara and the PKK collapsed, but recently the Turkish military has stepped up the airstrikes, which officials refer to as “a new phase.”

Meanwhile, 16 people were detained for their alleged links to the PKK/ the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) in western Turkey, according to security sources on July 10.

The suspects were detained during simultaneous anti-terror operations across the coastal Izmir province, the sources said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Digital material and documents and an unlicensed gun were also seized in the operation, the sources added.