Three soldiers killed in PKK attack in Turkey’s Şırnak

ŞIRNAK

Three soldiers were killed in an outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attack in the Uludere district of the southeastern province of Şırnak on June 27, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.
     
Security sources said PKK militants opened fire on a military vehicle carrying food to the Elmalı military base in the region with long-barreled weapons.

Three soldiers were heavily wounded in the fire and transferred to the Şırnak State Hospital, where they later succumbed to their injuries.

An operation has been launched to apprehend the militants responsbile for the attack.

Meanwhile, four PKK militants who illegally crossed into the country from Syria’s Kobane to stage “sensational” bomb attacks were apprehended in the Suruç district of the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa on June 27, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Police and gendarmerie teams launched a joint operation in the district after receiving an intelligence that a group of PKK militants would arrive from Kobane to Suruç to stage bomb attacks in the country.

Police also seized ammunition and explosives at a residence indicated by the militants after they were detained.

According to a statement by the Turkish General Staff, one kilogram of C4 explosive, two hand-made explosives connected with a cell phone, two rocket-launcher heads, one kalashnikov rifle, one shotgun, one weapon, 15 cartridges and clips belonging to the weapons were seized in the operation.

Separately, police seized a large amount of ammunition and explosives belonging to PKK militants in an operation conducted at a residence in the southeastern province of Batman, the Batman Governor’s Office stated on June 27.

In a police raid on an apartment of the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ), arms presumably to be used in potential attacks by the organization were seized, the Governor’s Office said.

Among the seized ammunition were one rocket-propelled grenade, 13 rocket-launcher heads, 12 rocket propellant cartridges, 2,100 loaded cartridges, 440 machine gun ammunition, two hand-made explosives prepared inside pressure cookers, one hand-made explosive prepared inside a 20-kilogram oil can and 200 meters of power cables, according to the statement.

It added that four suspects were also detained over the incident and legal investigations are ongoing.
Meanwhile, one soldier was killed in a PKK attack in the Şemdinli district of the southeastern province of Hakkari, the local governor’s office stated late on June 26.

Contracted infantry private Oğuzhan Küçük was killed in fire conducted by howitzers and rocket launchers from northern Iraq, targeting a military position in the 2867-meter Tekeli-Gedik Tepe region near the Iranian border.

The Hakkari Governor’s Office stated that security forces launched a large-scale operation following the attack with armed drones also being deployed to the region.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Armed Forces also stated that its armed units immediately retaliated to the attack by shelling PKK positions in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq.

Turkish warplanes also launched an air operation on PKK targets on June 27 in the rural area of Yayadere of the eastern province of Bingöl, destroying gun emplacements, sanctuaries and caves used by the militants.

In addition, the body of a soldier who was killed in clashes with PKK militants in the Karakoçan district of the eastern province of Elazığ was transferred to Istanbul to be laid to rest following a ceremony in the Elazığ Airport on June 27.

Gendarmerie Specialized Sgt. Rüstem Çetin was killed in clashes with militants in the rural areas of the Yeşilbelen village on June 26, while one soldier was also wounded.