PKK attacks hit southeastern Turkish provinces

ISTANBUL

DHA Photo

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Suspected members of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) staged simultaneous attacks last night on a police station and a special security branch office in the southeastern province of Şırnak, injuring one policeman, Anatolian news agency reported.

The wounded officer was taken to Şırnak State Hospital while an operation was launched to apprehend the militants, who used heavy weapons in the attack.

Meanwhile, a specialist sergeant was wounded yesterday when PKK fighters remotely detonated a landmine in the eastern province of Hakkari, Doğan news agency reported.

The blast occurred at around 11.00 a.m. in the province’s Yüksekova district as security forces were conducting an operation to locate possible mines on a road to nearby Dağlıca.

Another group of militants also set six trucks on fire on the road between Bitlis and Van provinces after stopping vehicles and checking the ID cards of passengers at around 9 p.m. yesterday, according to reports.

Suicide bomber captured

A suicide bomber was also captured by police in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır yesterday, according to reports.

The prospective female suicide bomber, who is believed to be a suspected member of the PKK, was reportedly preparing an attack and had taken drugs when she was apprehended by police.

The militant, who came to the city from a rural area to launch the attack during the Ramazan bayram holiday, was detained for questioning by police.

One policeman killed

Elsewhere, a policeman tasked with providing security at the Edremit Container Town was killed in an attack by PKK militants on Aug. 17 in the eastern province of Van, according to Doğan news agency.

Militants opened fire from a car and heavily wounded the policeman, Abdurrahman Doğan, who was temporary appointed to the container town which is housing victims of last year’s deadly earthquakes in the area.

The policeman was taken to hospital but could not be saved. A funeral for Doğan was held yesterday in the eastern province of Bitlis.