Second attack in a day hits province in eastern Turkey

TUNCELİ – Hürriyet Daily News

The burned out pickup of Abdullah Başyiğit, the kidnapped under-construction military station’s supervisor, was found in the southeastern province of Tunceli. DHA photo

Two villages in the eastern province of Tunceli were attacked today, with the latest target being a private chrome mining company in the district of Pülümür’s Kırklare village.

The armed attackers burned the worksite building and six vehicles without injuring people, before kidnapping a number of workers.

The Tunceli Gendarmerie Regional Command immediately sent Sikosky choppers to the area for a rescue operation. It is not yet known whether or not the attackers are linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Earlier in the day another village in Pülümür was attacked by an unidentified person or persons. Assailants fired on houses randomly with Kalashnikovs, but no injuries were reported. Security forces were dispatched to the village.

Meanwhile, a group of militants kidnapped an under-construction military station’s supervisor in the eastern province of Tunceli after burning down his pickup truck on June 26.

Gendarmerie Special Forces teams are conducting a rescue operation to find the worker who was identified as Abdullah Başyiğit and the five militants who kidnapped him.

The incident took place in Kaymaztepe village in Tunceli’s Pülümür district on June 25.

The militants are linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Doğan news agency reports said.

Separately in another eastern province, Erzurum, some four trucks and a heavy construction vehicle were burned down by unknown people on the night of June 25.