One police officer killed, two others wounded in PKK attack in Turkey’s east

TUNCELİ

One police officer was killed and two others were wounded in an attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the eastern province of Tunceli on July 23. The militants attacked the police control center with rocket launchers and long-barreled weapons, Doğan News Agency reported. 

The PKK militants attacked the armored personnel at the entrance of the Tunceli-Ovacık highway at around 11:25 p.m. One police officer was killed immediately and the wounded officers were taken to hospitals in the neighboring Elazığ province with military helicopters.

One helicopter carrying a heavily-wounded police officer couldn’t land in front of the hospital due to the lack of a helicopter pad and managed to land in the parking lot of the hospital. The second helicopter landed in a military hospital and the wounded were then transferred to the same hospital at the heavily-wounded police officer was taken before. 

The hospital staff requested blood donations from the public and nearby residents arrived at the hospital to donate.  

Elazığ Governor Murat Zorluoğlu, Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmakers Ejder Açıkkapı and Ömer Serdar and provincial police chief Nihat İşlek visited the hospital to get information on the attack. 

An operation has been launched to apprehend the militants involved in the attack.