News   /   Turkey

Two Turkish policemen killed in 'PKK rocket attack'

Turkish soldiers stand guard near the Turkey-Syria border post in Sanliurfa, southeastern Turkey, September 4, 2015. ©AFP

Two Turkish policemen have been killed in eastern Turkey in a rocket attack reportedly launched by members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

According to Turkish security officials, the attack hit the district of Sur in the province of Diyarbakir on Sunday.

Three other Turkish soldiers sustained injuries in the attack, which targeted a Turkish armored police car.

A curfew has been declared in the district following the rocket attack and clashes are underway in and around Sur.

According to Turkey's security forces, in clashes between Turkish forces and PKK militants in the Semdinli district of Turkey’s southeastern province of Hakkari near the borders with Iraq and Iran on Saturday, one civilian was shot dead and a district official belonging to Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) sustained injuries. 

In addition, two people lost their lives in clashes that erupted between the PKK and security forces in the town of Cizre, located in the southeastern province of Sirnak. Many others were reportedly wounded in the incident.

Turkey has been engaged in one of its biggest security operations in the southern border region over the past weeks. The Turkish military has been conducting offensives against alleged positions of Takfiri Daesh terrorists in northern Syria as well as those of the PKK in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey.

The security operations began in the wake of the deadly July 20 bomb attack in the southern Turkish town of Suruc, an ethnically Kurdish town located close to the Kurdish town of Kobani on the other side of the border in Syria, where over 30 people died. The Turkish government blamed Daesh for the bombing. On July 22, the PKK claimed responsibility for the killing of two Turkish police officers, saying they were cooperating with Daesh.

The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s. The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead.

A shaky ceasefire that had stood since 2013 was declared null by the PKK following the Turkish airstrikes against the group, narrowing chances of a peace deal in the near future.


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku