By Betul Abbak

NIGDE, Turkey 

A court in central Turkey on Wednesday sentenced four Daesh terrorists to nearly 500 years in jail for the murders of three men in March 2014.

Army sergeant Adil Kozanoglu, police officer Adem Coban and truck driver Turan Yasar were martyred in an attack on a military checkpoint near the Ulukisla district of Nigde province.

Assailants opened fire on Turkish gendarmerie and police teams before escaping in a truck they had seized.

Eight people were also wounded in the assault.

Four men – Cendrim Ramadani, Benjamin Xu, Mohamad Zakhiri and Fuad Movsumov – were later arrested by security forces and jailed pending trial.

Nigde High Criminal Court handed out five aggravated life sentences and 175 years in prison to Ramadani. Xu was sentenced to four terms of aggravated life imprisonment and 179 years in jail. Zakhiri was sentenced to one term of life imprisonment and 124 years, while Movsumov received 13 years in prison.

They were convicted of intentional killing and being members of an armed terrorist organization.

*Anadolu Agency correspondent Humeyra Atilgan Buyukovali contributed to this story from Istanbul.