Turkish army destroys nine bomb-laden PKK vehicles in week

ANKARA

A total of nine bomb-laden vehicles belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have been destroyed over the past week during operations conducted in the country’s east and southeast, the Turkish General Staff has said in a statement.

The military said gendarmerie troops seized two bomb-laden cars along with around 20 tons of ammonium nitrate in the Sur district of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Oct. 10.

It also stated that attack helicopters had destroyed a bomb-laden pickup in the province’s Lice district on Oct. 11.

On Oct. 12, the military said two bomb-laden cars and one motorcycle were destroyed in operations in the Nusaybin district of the southeastern province of Mardin. It added that two bomb-laden cars were destroyed by attack helicopters in Lice.

In the Tatvan district of the eastern province of Bitlis, one bomb-laden car was also destroyed on Oct. 12, according to the military.

Recently, PKK militants staged attacks with bomb-laden vehicles, claiming dozens of lives and wounding many.

On Oct. 6, militants detonated a bomb-laden motorcycle in the Yenibosna neighborhood of Istanbul near a police station, wounding 10 people.

Three days later, the militants staged another suicide attack targeting a military checkpoint in the Şemdinli district of the eastern province of Hakkari, killing 10 soldiers and six civilians.

Meanwhile, three soldiers were killed and another three were wounded on Oct. 14 in a PKK attack in the Mazıdağı district of Mardin.

The militants detonated a hand-made explosive placed near the Sultançiftliği village during the passage of an armored vehicle.

According to initial reports, three soldiers were killed and another three were wounded in the attack.

In a separate attack, one soldier was killed and three others were wounded when PKK militants detonated a hand-made explosive placed on a road near the Tekeli village during the passage of a military vehicle in the Şemdinli district of Hakkari. 

In the Başkale district of the eastern province of Van, eight soldiers were wounded when PKK militants detonated a hand-made explosive placed near the Yavuzlar village during the passing of a military convoy.

Two of the wounded were reportedly in a critical condition.

In the southeastern province of Adıyaman, one soldier was wounded during clashes with PKK militants near the Kömür village. The wounded soldier was transferred to hospital.

One specialized sergeant was also wounded during clashes with PKK militants in the Tatvan district of Bitlis. He is reportedly in a stable condition.

In addition, three PKK militants were killed in operations conducted in Hakkari and Şırnak on Oct. 13, while a number of weapons and ammunitions belonging to the militants were also seized.