Three security force members, two civilians killed in latest attacks in south, southeast

DİYARBAKIR

AA Photo

Three members of Turkish security forces were killed during the clashes with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) while one teenager and one woman were killed during clashes in the region.

One soldier was killed and six were wounded, including a civilian, in a PKK attack in the curfew-declared Sur district of the southeastern Diyarbakır province on Dec. 23.

PKK militants remotely detonated an explosive placed on a street in the Hasırlı neighborhood during clashes with security forces. One specialized sergeant was killed in the attack, while five soldiers and one civilian passing on the street were wounded, with one soldier in critical condition.

The clashes in the region are ongoing, with continuous gunshots and explosions heard throughout the day.

Another soldier, who was injured during clashes in Cizre on Dec. 20, succumbed to his wounds on Dec. 23 in an Ankara military hospital, Turkish General Staff said in a statement on Dec. 23 without identifying the officer. 

On Dec. 22, police officer Gökhan Ünaldı has been killed while two others have been wounded in an attacked by the PKK in Şırnak.

PKK militants launched an attack against an armored vehicle belonging to anti-terror police with a rocket-propelled grenade late on Dec. 22, wounding three officers on duty inside the vehicle. 

The wounded officers were brought to Şırnak State Hospital for treatment, but one officer succumbed to his wounds. 

A 53-year-old mother of nine, Azime Aşan, was killed on Dec. 23 in the Cizre district of Şırnak during clashes between the security forces and the PKK militants. Aşan was killed in her house, Anadolu Agency reported. 

Meanwhile, a 15-year-old civilian was shot dead in a rally in the southern province of Mersin’s Tarsus district, which was called to protest military-imposed curfews in a number of southeastern districts. 

Police, however, intervened with tear gas, stating the protest was “unauthorized.” Clashes erupted between the group and the police. The group reportedly threw explosives and Molotov cocktails at police and security forces. 

The teenager, identified as Davut Özer, was wounded in his stomach by a shot whose source could not be determined. 

Citizens around the scene of the incident brought Özer to a private hospital where he succumbed to his wounds due to an excessive loss of blood. 

District Police Chief Salim Çakan went to the hospital after being informed of the incident and pledged to identify and arrest the perpetrator.

Meanwhile, solider Atilla Güneş, who was injured in Cizre on Dec. 17 and succumbed to his injuries on Dec. 22, was laid to rest in Tokat.

Some 145 terrorists have been killed over the past eight days in Cizre, Silopi, Sur, the Turkish military says.

The curfew in Sur began on Dec. 2 to remove barricades and cover up ditches dug by PKK militants, with one a 17-hour break on Dec. 11, and has reached its 21st day as of Dec. 23. Soldier Eren Kılıç, who was killed in Bitlis on Dec. 21, was buried in Ankara on Dec. 23.