Turkish army clashes with PKK, dozen casualties
Turkish soldiers. File photo.
(IraqiNews.com) Erbil – At least 33 fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and five Turkish soldiers were killed in separate military clashes in south-eastern Turkey since Thursday.
According to a statement issued by the Turkish governorate of Van, “Five Turkish military officers, three soldiers and two village guards, were killed in clashes with PKK fighters in Chaldiran district. Further, 11 PKK militants were killed during the ambushes.”
The statement added, “33 PKK guerrillas were killed and 30 others were wounded, while one Turkish soldier was killed and six others were wounded in an aerial operation carried out by the Turkish army against the PKK guerrillas in Cukurca district of Hakkari province in south-eastern Turkey.”
“Two other Turkish soldiers were wounded in a roadside bomb attack targeting a military vehicle in Silvan, in the south-eastern Diyarbakir province, while another Turkish soldier was killed and four security officers were wounded in an armed attack by the PKK militants on a checkpoint in the south-eastern Mardin province’s Dargecit district,” the statement said.
Turkey and PKK have been in clashes since the collapse of a ceasefire agreement between them in July 2015.