28 PKK terrorists killed in Turkey’s southeast

ANKARA

Twenty-eight PKK terrorists have been killed and two security personnel have been martyred in separate incidents in southeastern Turkey’s provinces of Mardin, Sirnak and Hakkari since Saturday, Turkish military announced Sunday.

According to the statement released by the Turkish General Staff, nine PKK members were killed in Mardin's Nusaybin district Saturday, which increased the total number of terrorists killed in the province to 33 since operations began.

One terrorist also surrendered to authorities in the district.

Also, a police officer was martyred and seven others were injured in Nusaybin town center Sunday in an improvised explosive device blast, the statement added.

In Sirnak province, 13 PKK terrorists were killed Saturday, bringing the total number of terrorists killed in the province to 28 since operations began.

Meanwhile, a soldier succumbed to his wounds following an earlier PKK attack in Sirnak.

In Hakkari province, six terrorists were killed in Yuksekova district, increasing the total number of terrorists killed in the province to 38 since operations began. A terrorist also surrendered to Turkish security forces in the province, the statement said.

A joint counter-terrorism operation by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and police forces aims to capture PKK terrorists, dispose of planted explosives, fill in ditches, and remove barricades following the declaration of a curfew in Turkey's southeast on March 14.

The PKK – also listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU – resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, around 300 members of the security forces have been martyred, and thousands of PKK terrorists have been killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.