Five security forces, two civilians wounded in three PKK attacks in Turkey’s southeast

SİİRT/BİNGÖL – Doğan News Agency

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Two soldiers, three police officers and two civilians, including a 15-year-old teenager, have been wounded in three separate attacks staged by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey’s southeastern Siirt, Bingöl and Diyarbakır provinces.

Two soldiers were wounded at a potable water pumping station along Kezer Creek 10 kilometers away from Siirt’s center when PKK militants attacked a group of soldiers. The soldiers were standing guard to protect the water supply of the city when they were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and long-barreled weapons in the afternoon of Sept. 23. The group of soldiers responded to the attack. 

The wounded soldiers were immediately hospitalized and were reportedly in good condition. 

Later in the day, PKK militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at an armored police vehicle on its way to intervene with PKK members who had blocked a main road linking Bingöl to neighboring Elazığ. 

The Bingöl-Elazığ road was blocked by PKK militants at around 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 23, and the police were notified. The police officers inside the armored vehicle were on their way to intervene in the situation when they were attacked. Three police officers and one civilian, a driver passing by as the incident occurred, were wounded in the attack. 

The wounded were taken to Bingöl State Hospital. Two of the police officers received ambulatory treatment, while the other police officer and the civilian were given inpatient treatment. 

In Diyarbakır’s Bağlar district, a 15-year-old teenager, identified as E.A., was wounded when PKK militants staged an attack with a handmade grenade. 

The teenager was on the street to do some shopping when the grenade detonated and injured his feet. Police launched an operation to find the perpetrators. 

Meanwhile, Turkish jets struck PKK basis in the southeastern province of Hakkari late Sept. 23, hitting shelters and armed posts, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement on Sept. 24.