Ten arrested over Turkish gendarme commander killing

MUS, Turkey 

Ten suspects have been arrested over the killing of a gendarme commander in eastern Turkey, police said on Tuesday.

No details were initially released about the suspects, who were seized in a raid by counter-terrorist police in Mus province.

Major Arslan Kulaksiz, commander of the Malazgirt garrison, was killed in a gun attack in the town on Monday as he travelled by car with his family.

He later died in Malazgirt State Hospital, according to Vedat Buyukersoy, the governor of Mus.

Kulaksiz is the latest security forces officer killed in a recent outbreak of violence in southern and eastern Turkey that was sparked by the killing of 32 activists in Suruc on July 20 in a suicide bomb attack.

Two days later, two police officers were found shot in the head at the home they shared in Ceylanpinar. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - listed by Turkey, the U.S. and EU as a terrorist organization - claimed responsibility.

On July 23, a police officer was killed in a gun attack in Diyarbakir and on Sunday two soldiers were killed in a blast on a highway near the city. The army blamed the Kurdish militant group for the roadside attack.

In a nationwide crackdown on militant groups - primarily Daesh, the PKK and the leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) - Turkish security forces have detained more than 1,000 suspects since July 24, according to the prime minister's office.