News / Turkey

Two soldiers killed, one hurt in Turkey-PKK clashes

Wednesday, 17 February 2016 3:13 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 17 February 2016 3:12 PM ]

Turkish politicians and relatives of a special police force officer, who was killed in clashes with the PKK in Diyarbakir Province, attend his funeral prayers at the Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara on January 29, 2016. ©AFP

Clashes between Turkish army and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants have left two soldiers dead and one more wounded in the country’s volatile southeast.

The three soldiers sustained injuries in confrontation with Kurdish militants in the Sur district of Diyarbakir Province on Tuesday night.

The trio were taken to Diyarbakir Military Hospital, where one of them, identified as Mehmet Ali Dinc, succumbed to his wounds.

According to Turkish Army General Staff, the second injured trooper died at noon on Wednesday.

A PKK militant was also killed in Tuesday’s clashes.

Meanwhile, gunshots were heard from the district of Idil in Turkey’s southeastern Sirnak Province early on Wednesday after a curfew was imposed there.

Tensions intensified after Turkish security forces launched an operation to remove PKK barricades and trenches across Idil.

Turkey’s southeast has witnessed clashes since a shaky ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK that had stood since 2013 collapsed following the Turkish military operation against the militant group.

A PKK militant stands guard near a barricade as people flee from the Sur district of Turkey’s Diyarbakir Province on January 27, 2016. ©AP

The Turkish government has imposed curfew in the areas that have been targeted in the army’s anti-PKK campaign.

Ankara’s anti-PKK campaign began in the wake of a deadly July 20 bombing in the southern Turkish town of Suruc. More than 30 people died in the attack, which the Turkish government blamed on Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

After the incident, the PKK militants, who accuse the Turkish government of supporting Daesh, engaged in a series of reprisal attacks against Turkish police and security forces.

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