Three soldiers killed in PKK attack in Turkey’s southeast

Three soldiers killed in PKK attack in Turkey’s southeast

MARDİN – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Three soldiers were killed on May 8 in an explosion in the Nusaybin district of the southeastern province of Mardin, where operations by security forces are being carried out against outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants.

A hand-made explosive placed by PKK militants in a house in the Fırat neighborhood of Nusaybin exploded while security forces were conducting searches inside.

Gendarmerie Specialized Sergeant Mehmet Kılınç, Ferhat Aktaş and Cengiz Poyraz were heavily wounded in the blast, but later succumbed to their injuries at the Nusaybin State Hospital. 

Meanwhile, a total of 12 PKK militants were killed in operations in Mardin and the southeastern provinces of Şırnak and Tunceli, the Turkish General Staff announced.

The General Staff said in a statement that eight PKK militants were killed in Nusaybin, bringing the total number of killed PKK militants in the district to 347.

It also added two PKK militants were killed in Şırnak, increasing the total number of killed PKK militants in the province to 321, and another two militants were killed in Tunceli.

According to the statement, eleven PKK militants were caught in the Çukurca district of the southeastern province of Hakkari.

A number of weapons, hand-made explosives and organizational documents were also seized during the operations in three provinces, the statement said.