Eight Turkish soldiers were killed and two others were wounded in a PKK attack on Oct. 4 in southeastern Batman province, according to the local governorship.

In a statement, the Batman Governor’s Office said “the terrorists detonated an improvised explosive planted in the road when an armored military vehicle was passing through the rural area of Gercüş district.”

A wide-scale operation has been launched in the area.

The Turkish security forces have intensified operations against the PKK in Turkey, Iraq and Syria. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU,

On Oct. 4, Turkey also announced that “10 terrorists were neutralized in airstrikes conducted in northern Iraq’s Avasin-Basyan and Zap regions.”

Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” in statements to imply the targets in question either surrendered, were killed or captured.

In a statement, the Interior Ministry said Mehmet Sait Sürer, who used the codename Cuma Mardin, was among the “neutralized” in the airstrike in Nusaybin district of Turkey’s Mardin province.

Sürer was in the red category of the ministry’s “most wanted terrorists” list.

The Interior Ministry’s wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and gray.