Two civilians wounded in PKK attack in Turkey’s southeast

PKK militants staged two separate attacks targeting the eastern barracks of the third commando brigade command and the Cumhuriyet police station in the İnönü neighborhood with rocket-propelled grenades and long-barreled weapons between 2:45 a.m. and 3:00 a.m.

Security forces at both stations immediately responded to the fire, while no security forces casualties were reported in the attack.

However, two civilians, identified as Besna Erzen, 40, and her 10-year-old son Yusuf, who were sleeping on the roof of their house, were wounded by shrapnel during the attack. The two were transferred to Siirt State Hospital, while the boy was reportedly in critical condition.

Meanwhile, the Siirt Governor’s Office announced that security forces conducted a wide-scale operation supported by a gendarmerie special operations team on July 15 in various neighborhoods to apprehend the PKK militants responsible for the attack. 

The militants were later encircled by security forces while hiding in houses in a neighborhood where they had previously placed hand-made explosives on the roads. 

In addition, security forces also closed entry to the neighborhoods as the operations were ongoing.

Residents living in the Ülkü, Sakarya, Dumlupınar, Conkbayır and Tınaztepe neighborhoods were evacuated with the help of security forces, while some locals began to leave their houses due to security concerns.

Meanwhile, gendarmerie units seized two gas cylinders, two fuses, two sticks of gelatin dynamite, a 50-meter cable and a powder material estimated to be around 500 grams of explosive during an operation conducted in the Pervari district on July 12, according to a statement by the governor’s office.