Three police officers killed in PKK attacks in Turkey’s southeast

ŞIRNAK / DİYARBAKIR

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A total of three police officers were killed and seven were wounded yesterday in two separate attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern Şırnak and Diyarbakır provinces, Doğan News Agency has reported.

PKK militants detonated a bomb-laden vehicle in front of a police checkpoint in Şırnak early in the morning, killing two police officers and wounding five. 

According to initial reports, two militants responsible for the attack were killed as an air-supported operation began to apprehend the other fleeing militants.

In a separate attack in Diyarbakır’s Silvan, PKK militants killed one police officer and wounded two, including a civilian.

PKK militants attacked a group of police heading toward the Mescit neighborhood to fill-in ditches dug by the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H), the youth wing of the PKK. 

One police officer inside an earth-digger was killed when it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Police immediately responded to the attack and an armed clash erupted with the militants. One police officer and one civilian who was on his balcony during the clashes were wounded.

Meanwhile, a curfew was declared in the Sur and Silvan districts of Diyarbakır due to the latest clashes.

According to initial reports, seven police officers were wounded during the clashes with PKK militants.