PKK kills four more soldiers as Turkey faces non-stop violence in east

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

Sergeant Veli Ateş, who was killed by PKK militants in Bingöl province, were buried after a dramatic funeral ceremony on Aug. 14. DHA photo

Four Turkish soldiers and a civilian have been killed and at least 16 people have been injured across Turkey in terrorist attacks carried out by members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) amid a surge in violence across the country.

Three soldiers were killed in a clash with PKK militants in the southeastern Hakkari province's Dağlıca district late Aug. 14, Turkish media reported. Six soldiers were wounded in the clash.

In a separate incident, Fahrettin Budak, a 40-year-old civilian, was killed and Şaban Çelik, 29, another civilian, was injured in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır around 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 14 after the two were caught up in clashes between police officers and PKK militants who blocked off a road by digging trenches in the Bağlar district.

Çelik was taken to the Dicle University Medical School Hospital. An investigation was launched into the incident.

On Aug. 13, Veli Ateş, a gendarmerie sergeant, was killed after PKK militants detonated a remote-controlled landmine they had placed near a railroad in the eastern province of Bingöl, the Bingöl Governor’s Office said in a written statement. 

Bingöl also saw another clash which injured one military officer. Rıdvan Çakır, a gendarmerie sergeant, was injured in Bingöl late Aug. 13 after PKK militants fired shots with long-barreled weapons and rockets at the Yeniyazı District Gendarmerie station. Çakır was taken to the Bingöl Public Hospital for treatment. 

PKK attacks engineers

Another incident took place in the eastern province of Tunceli on Aug. 13. Murat Kaba, 31, a gendarmerie sergeant, and four civilians were injured after PKK militants detonated a minibus full of explosives near the Pülümür District Gendarmerie Command in Tunceli at around 11 p.m. on Aug. 13. A five-story military residence and eight homes around the command were severely damaged. Gülizar Şahin, 52, one of the injured civilians, was reported to be in serious condition.

Two police officers were injured in Diyarbakır’s Silvan district late Aug. 13 after militants from the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H), the youth wing of the PKK, fired rockets at police vehicles from a 20-meter distance. The injured security personnel were taken to the Silvan Public Hospital for treatment.

Two Turkish Electricity Transmission Company (TEİAŞ) engineers, identified by the initials İ.S. and F.A., were injured in the southern province of Hatay around 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 14 in the explosion of a landmine planted by terrorists in Hatay’s İskenderun district. The two engineers’ injuries were reportedly not life-threatening.  

A Turkish soldier was injured in the eastern province of Şırnak in the evening hours on Aug. 13 after unknown men with their faces masked launched fireworks and sound bombs at a military command in Şırnak’s Cizre district. The injured military personnel were taken to the Şırnak Public Hospital and the perpetrators were reported to be at large.

Meanwhile, two police officers were wounded in an ambush in the Nusaybin district of southeastern Mardin province on Aug. 14. 

Car bomb detonated

The attack came on the same day a car laden with a bomb was detonated with a huge blast in the southeastern province of Batman as bomb disposal experts were working at the scene. No injuries were reported after the blast.

Bomb disposal experts arrived upon a notice after a suspicious car, with its doors open, was spotted near the Batman bus terminal. After an initial investigation, it was found that the car was laden with a bomb.

Police and gendarmerie forces were deployed in the area and security measures were taken to prevent any danger. However, an unexpectedly huge blast turned the car into an enormous fireball after it exploded in a controlled detonation. Pieces from the car were scattered into the surrounding fields and the windows of nearby buildings shattered from the strength of the explosion. An official investigation has been opened into the incident.

On Aug. 13, PKK militants fired shots with long-barreled weapons and rockets at a gendarmerie station in Beytüşşebap, Şırnak, with no casualties reported.

Two PKK militants who opened fire at a border military troop in Şemdinli, southeastern Hakkari province, were killed on Aug. 13.

In the past 38 days, a total of 38 security personnel and 12 civilians have been killed by PKK militants, while 132 others have been injured. Turkish air strikes have killed scores of PKK militants in northern Iraq, according to the army, while 39 militants have been killed in operations inside Turkey.