Five soldiers killed, 14 wounded in PKK attacks in Turkey’s southeast

HAKKARİ/MARDİN

DHA photo

Five soldiers were killed and 14 others were wounded in separate attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey’s southeastern provinces of Mardin and Hakkari on May 18. 

Four soldiers were killed and nine others were wounded when PKK militants detonated an improvised explosive device buried under the asphalt road stretching between Aktütün and Beyyurdu near Turkey’s border with Syria. 

The blast occurred during the passage of two armored army vehicles at 2:05 p.m., around 70 kilometers from the center of the Şemdinli district of Hakkari. 

One of the vehicles was said to be mine-resistant and seated 13 personnel, and initial reports claim that at least one ton of explosives was used in the attack. 

At least four soldiers were killed immediately, while nine wounded soldiers were transferred to the Hakkari Military Hospital for treatment, an official statement released on the website of Turkish Armed Forces said. Four of the soldiers sustained severe injuries, according to the statement. 

A large-scale air-borne operation was reportedly launched in the area to apprehend the militants. 

In an earlier incident, one soldier, identified as Sergeant First Class Anıl Gül, was killed as a PKK sniper shot at him with a Kanas-branded sniper rifle during an operation on Tunç Street in Diyarbakır’s Yenişehir neighborhood. 

Later in the day, the PKK staged a bomb attack in the same neighborhood, this time on Reyhan Street. An improvised explosive device was reportedly detonated with a remote control during the passage of security officials.

Five soldiers were wounded in the attack and were taken to the Nusaybin State Hospital for treatment. 

Meanwhile, the governor’s office in Mardin released a statement announcing that a total of 385 PKK militants have been killed so far in military operations carried out in the restive Nusaybin district since March 13. 

A total of 385 militants have been killed, 371 barricades have been removed, 950 improvised explosive devices have been destroyed as of May 18, the office said, adding that 62 security officials were killed in the process. 

“In addition, 1,621 citizens were moved to safe zones,” it stated, also providing statistical figures on the services provided to residents of clash-hit regions in terms of healthcare and nutrition.