46 PKK militants 'neutralized' last week, Turkish military says

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Some 46 outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants were “neutralized” in operations in eastern Turkey in the past week, the military said on Aug. 4.         

Authorities use the word “neutralized” in their statements to imply the militants in question were either killed, wounded or captured.     

The 46 included Behtin Bilen, codenamed Dijyar, who surrendered to security forces and was on the Interior Ministry’s list of “wanted terrorists” with the gray code, and Yılmaz Kes, codenamed Şahin, who was killed and also on the ministry’s list with the blue code, a statement from the Turkish General Staff said.        

Operations were conducted in the eastern provinces of Hakkari, Şırnak, Van, Bingöl and Muş between July 27 and Aug. 3.        

Twenty-seven firearms, 286 kilograms of ammonium nitrate used for bomb making, over 13,000 rounds of small-arms ammunition, around 300 rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition and over 38 handmade explosive devices were also destroyed, the military said.         

Forty-one shelters used by the militants, including depots and caves, and a minibus believed to have been linked to a planned bomb attack in the Beytüşşebap district of southeastern Şrınak province were also destroyed, it added.        

It said the operations also hit financial sources of the PKK. Narcotics teams in the past week seized 13 kilograms of illegal drugs and 71,305 packets of contraband cigarettes.   

Some 5,179 people trying to illegally cross Turkey’s borders were caught in the past week.