Six PKK militants killed in Turkey’s north

ORDU

DHA Photo

Six outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants were killed in clashes with Turkish security forces in the Black Sea province of Ordu late on Sept. 29. Clashes erupted in the province’s rural Mesudiye district after security forces determined there were militants from the outlawed group in the region. 

Gendarmerie units were sent to the area in order to apprehend the militants dead or alive after an image of the PKK militants was obtained. An operation was launched during which security forces called on the militants to surrender, which was responded to by PKK militants opening fire. 

Six militants were killed in the clashes and their guns were confiscated by the security forces. 

Ordu Gov. İrfan Balkanoğlu commented on the issue, saying that no PKK militants could gain ground in Turkey’s Black Sea provinces. 

“This terrorist organization has an absurd will to gain ground in the Black Sea region. However, we said that they can’t do it here and they couldn’t. The terrorists who bothered Ordu were neutralized with the immense efforts of our soldiers,” Balkanoğlu said. 

Residents in the area celebrated the death of the six militants by displaying Turkish flags.

Elsewhere, a village guard was killed and two soldiers were wounded in an attack by PKK militants in the Cizre district of southeastern Şırnak province. 

The PKK militants detonated a home-made bomb during the passage of a vehicle used by security forces. 

The wounded were taken to Şırnak Military Hospital and the scene of the explosion was closed to traffic. 
A large scale operation was launched in the area after the attack. 

Another operation was launched in the Beytüşşebap district of Şırnak due to the area being a main base for PKK militants. Gendarmes and village guards participated in the operation with aerial support. 

Meanwhile, Turkish warplanes conducted air strikes against PKK targets in the southeastern province of Hakkari and northern Iraq.