One Turkish soldier killed in PKK attack in Turkey’s east

VAN

AA photo

One Turkish soldier was killed in a clash with outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) militants in the eastern province of Van on June 7, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

The clash occurred in Van’s Başkale district during an operation against PKK militants. One soldier was injured and taken to hospital but there he succumbed to his injuries.

Two militants were “neutralized” during the military operation, which remains ongoing, the Van Governor’s Office said in a statement. 

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

Meanwhile, the military announced on June 7 that one of the “neutralized” PKK militants during an operation in Van’s Çatak district in May was a name responsible for all the group’s activities in the province.

The military’s statement said the militant was from the PKK’s youth wing, the Civil Defense Units (YPS), was named “Abdurrahim Aslan,” and was on the Interior Ministry’s list of “wanted terrorists” with the green code. 

Separately, police also detained four suspects early on June 7 in Van as part of six simultaneous raids into the PKK/Kurdistan Communities Union (PKK/KCK), Anadolu Agency reported. 

The security forces have seized various clothes allegedly belonging to members of the PKK and the KCK and detained the four suspects on charges of helping the militants. Three more suspects are reportedly being sought for by police with regard to the operations. 

Separately, on the same day counter-narcotic units also seized 81 kilograms of heroin in Van’s Edremit district.

The discovery was made when police units stopped a van on the Van-Gürpınar highway at a control position, according to a statement released by Van police department. The units, with the help of the drug detection dog named “Zeyna,” reportedly found the heroin hidden in 160 packages.

The driver of the vehicle was arrested by a court order on the same day on charges of “drug or stimulant trafficking.”