Seven PKK militants killed in airstrike in Turkey’s southeast

HAKKARİ/HATAY

Seven outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants were killed in a Turkish airstrike carried out in the Çukurca district of the southeastern province of Hakkari, Anadolu Agency reported on May 13.

According to a statement released from Turkish General Staff, the militants were killed while trying to infiltrate into the Güven Mountain military base region from northern Iraq. 

The total number of militants killed in Hakkari and the region around it reached 166 since Jan. 1, the statement also said. 

The warplanes returned to their bases safely. 

Meanwhile, one soldier was killed and a police officer, as well as a soldier were wounded in the clashes erupted between gendarmerie and police officers allegedly due to the sides mistaking each other for a group of PKK militants in the southern province of Hatay, Doğan News Agency reported on May 13. 

Police special forces were in the Çardak Yaylası Domuzdamı region of Amanos Mountains for an anti-PKK operation when they reportedly determined a group’s movement with the help of thermal camera at around 12:45 a.m. Upon thinking that the group was consisting of PKK militants, police opened fire, when in fact the group was a gendarmerie unit in the area also for an anti-PKK operation, Doğan News Agency reported. 

Gendarmerie reportedly returned fire opened by the police and Gendarmerie Sergeant Niyazi Elçin was killed in the clashes. 

The wounded soldier and special forces police were taken to Hatay State Hospital and an investigation was launched into the incident. 

A statement was released from Hatay Governor’s Office, which said that an administrative and legal investigation was launched, while not specifying how the incident took place. 

“An operation was launched to neutralize the PKK militants determined to be active in Amanoslar region on May 11. As the operations were ongoing, two members of the gendarmerie special forces unit and one special forces police were wounded in the incident that took place in Domuzdamı region at around 12:45 a.m. on May 13. Gendarmerie Sergeant Niyazi Elçin succumbed to his injuries despite all attempts to save his life,” the statement released on May 13 read.