Thirty six people have been killed in two separate attacks by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants against Turkey’s armed forces, the Turkish military says.
The raids in the southeastern Sirnak Province took place on Thursday night and Friday, killing two Turkish soldiers and wounding nine others, the General Staff announced in a statement on Friday.
The wounded soldiers were not in life-threatening conditions and were receiving care at the Sirnak Military Hospital.
The military also said that 34 terrorists were “rendered ineffective” in retaliatory operations that followed the attacks.
The PKK casualties are expected to increase as security operations backed by Turkish fighter jets are still ongoing, the statement added.
Since July, a deadly conflict has been going on between the PKK and Turkish security forces. The clashes began when Turkey set off its aerial campaign against purported Daesh (ISIL) targets in Syria as well as PKK positions in Turkey and Iraq.
Ankara’s military campaign against the PKK voided a shaky ceasefire that had been declared in 2013.