Six soldiers, one civilian killed in separate PKK attacks in southeast

Four soldiers were killed and nine others were wounded when PKK militants attacked a military vehicle in the Beytüşşebap district of the southeastern province of Şırnak early on Aug. 10, the Turkish General Staff announced. 

According to the statement by the army, the military convoy headed to the HABUR-2 customs gate on the Iraqi border was attacked by a hand-made explosive laid on the road and long-barrel guns, including a rocket projectile fired from northern Iraq.  

Infantry soldier Tayfur Çankaya and specialized sergeant Ahmet Hilmi Yiğit were killed, although the names of the two other soldiers have not yet been disclosed. 

Elsewhere, two specialized sergeants, Kadir Karaman and Salih Hayırsöz, were killed and two others were wounded in a PKK attack in a rural area between the Lice and Kulp districts of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır late on Aug. 9. 

Soldiers wounded in the exchange of fire with the militants were taken to Diyarbakır Military Hospital. 

In a separate attack, seven soldiers were wounded when PKK militants detonated an explosive laid on a road between the Şemdinli and Yüksekova districts of the eastern province of Hakkari. 

According to a statement by the Hakkari Governor’s Office, the causalities occurred during the passage of a military vehicle conducting checks on the road for mines and hand-made explosives. The seven soldiers in the vehicle received light wounds and were taken to Yüksekova Public Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, civilian Şükrü Abay was killed by PKK militants in an armed attack targeting two Türk Telekom vehicles which were headed to fix a malfunction in the Sarıtaş village in the eastern province of Tunceli on Aug. 10. 

According to a statement by the Tunceli Governor’s Office, Türk Telekom personnel Şükrü Abay was shot during the militants’ attack. Taken to Tunceli Public Hospital, Abay later succumbed to his injuries, the statement said, adding that operations began after the attack and they were still ongoing.