Armed PKK terrorist killed in southeast Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

Security forces on Friday killed an armed PKK terrorist in southeastern Turkey, the provincial governor’s office said.

Cebrail Karci, codenamed Roj, was armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, ammunition, a handgun and three hand grenades when he was killed by gendarmes in Diyarbakir’s Cinar district, the statement said.

Karci was involved in the Aug. 29 roadside bomb attack on the Diyarbakir-Bismil highway that caused in the deaths of two civilians, Mehmet Gurses and Mustafa Yilmaz.

They were killed when the bomb was detonated as a security forces’ vehicle passed.

Meanwhile, in nearby Bitlis province, five PKK suspects were remanded in custody on charges of PKK membership and aiding and abetting the terror group.

According to a security officials, 38 PKK suspects were arrested over last two days in separate operations across the country.

Speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, an official in the western province of Izmir said 27 were arrested in operations in the districts of Torbali and Menemen.

They are accused of membership of the PKK and making terrorist propaganda under an investigation launched by Izmir’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

As part of an operation overseen from the southern province of Adana, 10 terror suspects were remanded in custody across six provinces, including Istanbul, Diyarbakir and Batman.

In Diyarbakir, a wanted PKK suspect was detained while trying to escape police on Thursday.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU. Over its 33-year terror campaign, more than 40,000 people have been killed.

Since the group resumed its armed campaign in July 2015, more than 1,200 people, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives.

*Reporting by Hasan Namli, Mustafa Yildirim in Izmir, Eren Bozkurt in Adana and Sener Toktas in Bitlis:Writing by Cansu Dikme