9 PKK militants ‘neutralized’ in Turkey, N Iraq

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

At least nine outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants have been neutralized as part of anti-terror operations in eastern Turkey and northern Iraq, said officials on Aug. 26.

Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” in their statements to imply that the militants in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

According to an Interior Ministry statement, six militants were neutralized in the eastern provinces of Bingöl, Ağrı, and Tunceli.

One of the militants, identified as Mehmet Şirin, codenamed Poyraz Agir, had been on Turkey’s “most wanted terrorists list.”

During operations in Bingöl’s Karlıova district, one soldier was also killed and two were injured, said a statement by the Bingöl Governorship.

Separately, three more militants were neutralized in Avaşin-Basyan, northern Iraq, according to the Turkish General Staff.

Meanwhile, a Turkish soldier on Aug. 25 succumbed to his wounds from a PKK attack in the eastern province of Ağrı, the military said.

In a statement, the Turkish General Staff said the soldier was wounded in a counter-terror operation on Aug. 21.