PKK bomb attack kills three policemen in Turkey’s southeast

DİYARBAKIR - Doğan News Agency

AA Photo

Militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) detonated a roadside bomb in the southeastern province of Şırnak overnight, killing three police officers and wounding four others in an armored vehicle, security sources said Jan. 18. 

Reports indicate the blast occurred at around 11:30 p.m. in Şırnak’s İdil district when PKK militants detonated a roadside bomb during the passage of an armored police car.

Seven policemen who were wounded in the attack were transferred to Şırnak State Hospital for treatment, but three later succumbed to their wounds. 

The treatment of four wounded officers continues, according to reports. 

Meanwhile, PKK militants attacked a security force base in the area with rifles, but no injuries were reported. 

Reports indicate scores of armored vehicles and security forces have been dispatched from Cizre to İdil as reinforcement. 

The towns of Cizre and Silopi, further east of İdil in Şırnak, have been under a military-imposed curfew since Dec. 14, 2015, as security forces battle PKK militants there. 

Turkey’s army says it has killed 320 militants in Cizre, 135 in Silopi and 101 in the Sur district of Diyarbakır province since operations began last month. The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which is focused on the Kurdish issue, says some 100 civilians have been killed in the areas since the curfews began.