Turkish army kills 8 PKK militants in Cizre, Silvan
The Turkish military says security forces have killed eight militants with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in an operation in the country’s volatile southeast.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the army said the eight were killed on Tuesday during offensives in the towns of Cizre and Silvan after they opened fire on Turkish soldiers.
The security forces gave chase to the militants in the southeastern towns while being supported by helicopters and tanks.
Cizre and Silvan have witnessed blanket and open-ended curfews as the Turkish government is pushing ahead with its months-long campaign against the PKK.
Pro-Kurdish media, meanwhile, reported that an 11-year-old boy has been among those killed in the operation in Cizre.
Ankara has been engaged in a large-scale military campaign against the PKK in its southern border region in the recent past. The Turkish military has also been conducting offensives against the positions of the PKK in northern Iraq.
The operations began in the wake of a deadly July 20 bombing in the southern Turkish town of Suruc, located close to the border with Syria. More than 30 people died in the Suruc attack, which the Turkish government blamed on Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.
After the bombing in Suruc, the PKK militants, who accuse the government in Ankara of supporting Daesh, engaged in a series of supposed reprisal attacks against Turkish police and security forces, in turn prompting the Turkish military operations.
People in the Kurdish-majority towns and cities in the southeast are angry at the imposition of curfews that at times last for days as the security forces fight Kurdish militants.
Three police officers were killed in a bombing in Diyarbakir on Tuesday blamed on the PKK. The blast came a day after two protesters were shot dead in violent clashes that broke out over a curfew in Sur, southeastern province of Diyarbakir, which has been in place since December 2.
Iraq won’t tolerate violation of its sovereignty, PM tells Erdogan
New Freedom Flotilla to set sail for Gaza in defiance of Israel's naval blockade
Hamas chief meets Erdogan as Turkey tries to mediate in Gaza war
‘Say no to Biden’: US college being pressed not to endorse genocide
VIDEO | UN: Alarming food insecurity crisis grips Afghanistan
VIDEO | Stuck in quagmire
UK suspends legal assessments of Israeli violations in Gaza
Students protest at US universities to urge end in financial ties to Israel
Biden signs war aid bill supplying Israel, Ukraine with more weapons
VIDEO | France, West warn Israel against escalation with Iran
Iran refutes Kuwait’s assertion of exclusive rights to Arash gas field
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
