Operations held before PKK’s 15 Aug anniversary

HAKKARİ-OSMANİYE

In the Erzin district of the southern province of Hatay Aug. 14, two different groups of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants organized simultaneous attacks on the district police office and a gendarmerie station. Two police officers who were guarding the office building were injured.

The incidents took place around 11:30 p.m. Two different groups of PKK members simultaneously attacked the police office building in the İsalı neighborhood and the gendarmerie station in the Hürriyet neighborhood of Erzin with long-barreled weapons. Police officers guarding the governor’s residence and soldiers at the gendarmerie station responded immediately to the attacks. During the attack on the police offices, two police officers guarding the building were injured. In both attacks, the terrorists escaped in vehicles and disappeared, Doğan news agency reported.

The injured police officers, Zafer Asay, 40, and Yusuf Özbey, 40, were first sent to Erzin State Hospital. After receiving first aid there, they were transferred to Osmaniye State Hospital. They are both reported to be in good condition.

After the militants had been stopped, security forces noticed a civilian vehicle parked in front of the Erzin government office that had not been there before the attack. Bomb specialists approached the vehicle with signal-cutting jammers and found 65 kilograms of explosives ready to be detonated via remote control. The specialists defused the bomb that consisted of ammonium nitrate and 1.5 kilograms of C4 explosives. Officials said they believed PKK militants aimed to hit the government office with the bomb as part of their coordinated attack.

The entrances and exits to the district were closed and security measures were taken. A large-scale operation to find and arrest the PKK members is ongoing, and the neighboring provinces and districts have been warned to be on the lookout for them.