At least 12 members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have been killed in Turkish military strikes in the southeastern part of Turkey.
The Turkish General Staff, in a statement released on Monday, said two PKK militants were killed during operations in the Kurdish-populated city of Yuksekova in Hakkari Province, located 1,026 kilometers (638 miles) east of the capital, Ankara, earlier in the day.
Turkish troopers also reportedly defused a number of roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices in the operations.
PKK militants mounted three separate attacks on Turkish border guards and security personnel in the Semdinli district of Hakkari Province. Eight Kurdish militants were killed as they engaged in fierce exchanges of gunfire with Turkish forces.
Additionally, Turkish military forces reportedly defused six improvised explosive devices placed under a bridge in the district.
Turkish police sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least two PKK militants were also killed in an operation in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir on Monday.
Meanwhile, six Turkish soldiers sustained injuries in an explosion that targeted their vehicle in Diyarbakir Province.
Turkish officials, requesting not to be named, said the troopers were traveling in the Kocakoy district of the province when their car touched off an improvised explosive device, triggering the blast.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Selami Altinok said on Monday that more than 2,000 PKK members have been killed in military operations across the country since July 22.
According to a report by the Hurriyet daily, over 150 Turkish military and police officers have been killed since July in armed attacks blamed on the PKK.
On September 17, the PKK declared as null and void a unilateral ceasefire with the government in Ankara, accusing it of waging the military operations against the group to gain more votes in the November 1 snap elections.
The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s. The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives; Press TV reported.
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