Soldier killed in another PKK roadside bomb blast in Turkey’s southeast

MARDİN – Doğan News Agency

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One soldier has been killed and five others have been wounded after outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants detonated a roadside bomb as a military vehicle was passing in the southeastern province of Mardin.

The Mardin Governor’s Office said in a written statement late on Dec. 2 that the soldier, Ergün Kara, died after an explosive device placed inside a garbage container in Mardin’s Artuklu district was detonated by PKK militants at around 5 p.m. on Dec. 2.

“One soldier was killed and five other soldiers and one civilian were injured in the attack,” it stated.

The Turkish General Staff expressed its condolences to the family and friends of Ergün in a written statement issued on Dec. 3.

Ergün’s funeral was attended by hundreds of people in his hometown Kozan, a district in the southern province of Adana.

After a two-year ceasefire, clashes between the Turkish military and the PKK have reignited in recent months, with ground and aerial operations staged by the military as well as curfews imposed on a number of southeastern towns.

The attack in Mardin that killed Kara came hours after a police officer succumbed to his injuries 21 days after being wounded in clashes with the PKK in the northwestern province of Kocaeli.