Two killed in clashes in Turkey’s southeast

ŞIRNAK – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

Two people were killed on Jan. 5 during clashes between security forces and militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern Şırnak province.

Security forces conducted an operation in the Dicle neighborhood early Jan. 5 to cover ditches dug by PKK militants and remove barricades. However, two people were killed during the clashes.

Whether the two were PKK militants or civilians has not been announced.

Meanwhile, the Turkish General Staff has announced that a total of 14 PKK militants were killed in operations in Şırnak and Diyarbakır on Jan. 4.

A temporary village guard was killed on Jan. 5 during clashes between security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the restive Sur district of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, which has been under a military curfew for the past month.

Temporary village guards were escorting gendarmerie and police special forces during operations in Sur on Jan. 5 as clashes continued with the PKK militants, when one of them from the Eğil District Gendarmerie Post was shot in the neck with a sharp shooter bullet. He later succumbed to his injuries at the Diyarbakır Military Hospital.

Meanwhile, one soldier was injured by shrapnel after PKK militants detonated explosives in the Fatihpaşa and Hasırlı neighborhoods of Sur.

Clashes in the district are reportedly ongoing.