PKK militant responsible for Aktütün, Dağlıca attacks killed

ŞANLIURFA

DHA photo

An outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant, who was killed in an exchange of fire with police on May 10 on a highway in the Kabahaydar neighborhood of the central southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, has been identified as the headmaster and one of the assailants in the 2008 Aktütün patrol attack, which killed and wounded scores of Turkish soldiers. 

PKK militant Cüneyt Aydar, code-named “Herokol,” was killed and another alleged militant was captured during a clash which broke out after the two fired shots at police officers who wanted to stop their car upon a call that they were on their way to Şanlıurfa to carry out an attack. 

Making a statement after the incident, the Şanlıurfa police department said Aydar was a militant who joined the PKK’s mountain group in 2003 and was the headmaster and one of the assailants in the 2008 Aktütün and 2007 Dağlıca patrol attacks.

“[Aydar] martyred a police officer in Yüksekova [a district in the southeastern province of Hakkari] in 2009, abducted and martyred a village guard in Yüksekova in 2008 and martyred a specialized sergeant in Yüksekova in 2010. The terrorist, who was stationed in the organization’s Çarçela battalion in the Zağaros area, was also responsible for collecting money for the organization in Yüksekova,” said the statement.
    
The statement added that the two were driving to Şanlıurfa to carry out an attack in the city and that ammunition, weapons and hand bombs were found in the car.  

İsmail Kaya, the other alleged militant who was also present in the car, was reported to be the driver of Aydar, who was dressed as a businessman at the time of the incident in an attempt to pass through security checks. 

Upon the incident armored vehicles and special operation teams were dispatched to the area, as the road was temporarily closed to traffic.