Militants stage ‘anti-drug operation’ in Diyarbakır

DİYARBAKIR

Late on Aug. 17, gunned and masked militants entered a number of cafes in the town of Sur and lined people up on the street, searching them for drugs.

A group describing itself as the public order unit of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) youth organization has staged an “operation against drug use,” raiding cafes in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

Late on Aug. 17, gunned and masked militants entered a number of cafes in the town of Sur and lined people up on the street, searching them for drugs. The group reportedly beat a number of people who they claimed were dealing drugs.

Photos of the “operation” were later posted on social media accounts affiliated to the militants.

Last week, the same group claimed that it had seized 13 alleged members of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Diyarbakır.