Soldier, village guard killed in separate clashes with PKK in northern Iraq, Turkey’s east

HAKKARİ/AĞRI

A soldier and a village guard were killed in two separate clashes between the Turkish security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and the eastern Turkish province of Ağrı.

Clashes erupted in northern Iraq’s Kanimasi region, which is located across the southeastern province of Hakkari’s Çukurca district, between PKK militants and security forces late on Sept. 28.

Gendarmerie Specialized Sergeant Yahya Acar, 41, was killed in the clashes, while another four soldiers were wounded. Three PKK militants were also killed in the clashes.

The funeral ceremony of Acar was held in the 23rd Gendarmerie Border Division Command in the southeastern province of Şırnak on Sept. 29, while the other wounded soldiers’ treatments at a hospital were ongoing.

Turkey has a mechanized unit consisting of 500 soldiers as well as tanks in northern Iraq’s Bamarni. There is also a unit of 400 commandoes in Kanimasi, which is close to the border, and they have been watching the border against possible infiltrations by PKK militants into Turkey from Iraq.

Elsewhere, a village guard was killed and another two were wounded during a security operation in the Doğubayazıt district of the eastern province of Hakkari late on Sept. 28.

According to a statement released by the Ağrı Governor’s Office on Sept. 29, an operation was launched after PKK militants opened fire on a vehicle carrying migrants on Sept. 25, and clashes erupted around Güngören village.

While a village guard was killed another two were wounded, four PKK militants were killed in return.

An operation to apprehend the militants responsible of the attack were ongoing.

Moreover, Turkish jets have carried out airstrikes against PKK targets in the Zap and Avaşin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) said on Sept. 29 that weapon launching pits, shelters and weapons and ammunition depots belonging to the outlawed group were destroyed in the airstrikes carried out on Sept. 28.

In addition, TSK has released a statement on anti-terror operations carried out in Hakkari, Şırnak, the southeastern provinces of Mardin and Diyarbakır and the eastern province of Siirt between Sept. 21 and 27.

The army said a total of 63 PKK militants were “neutralized” in the operations and plenty of rifles, weapons and ammunition were seized, as well as seven rocket launchers.

Some 54 hand-made explosives were destroyed and 87 weapon launching pits, shelters and depots were demolished.

Meanwhile, the United States has released a travel warning for its citizens planning to travel to Turkey.

“Due to the persistent threat of terrorism, the U.S. government restricts travel by U.S. government personnel to certain areas in southeast Turkey and limits the activities of U.S. government personnel and their family members while in Istanbul and Adana,” the statement released on Sept. 28 read, adding that “we recommend U.S. citizens carefully consider the need to travel to Turkey at this time, and avoid travel to southeast Turkey.”