Police officer, soldier killed in PKK attacks in Turkey’s southeast

MARDİN – Doğan News Agency

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One police officer and one soldier were killed on March 27 in separate outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attacks in the Nusaybin district in the southeastern province of Mardin, as security forces operations in the district entered their second week. 

The Turkish General Staff issued a statement on March 27 saying a soldier and a police officer were heavily wounded in armed PKK attacks and later succumbed to their injuries in hospital. The statement added one military personnel and five police officers were also wounded during the ongoing operations and were immediately taken to hospital for treatment.  

Special operations police officer Coşkun Nazilli was heavily wounded when PKK militants detonated hidden explosives. Nazilli was immediately taken to Nusaybin State Hospital but succumbed to his injuries.

In a separate attack in the district, Specialized Sgt. Vedat Aykut was heavily wounded by PKK sharpshooter fire and later succumbed to his injuries at the same hospital.

In the statement, it was also announced that a total of 13 PKK militants were killed in operations conducted in the district on March 26, along with another 12 in the southeastern province of Şırnak and the Yüksekova district in the southeastern province of Hakkari. A total of 95 PKK militants have been killed in security forces operations in Nusaybin since March 14, along with the disposal of 215 hand-made explosives, the statement added.