(Photo: Cihan)
Eight soldiers were killed in a bomb attack carried out by members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization in Siirt province on Wednesday afternoon, while four other troops died in clashes between Turkish security forces and PKK terrorists in the Lice and Hani districts of Diyarbakır on Tuesday evening.
In a statement released on its website, the military said “separatist terrorist organization members” detonated a handmade bomb planted on the highway between Siirt’s Şirvan and Pervari districts as a military vehicle was passing by. Eight soldiers were killed in the attack. The Cihan news agency said three members of the security forces were among the deceased. Ambulances were dispatched to the area to aid the wounded soldiers.
In addition, a soldier who was injured in fighting in the southeastern district of Lice on Tuesday later died in the hospital, raising the number of soldiers killed in the Lice clashes to two.
Six Turkish soldiers had suffered injuries when a clash broke out between security forces and PKK members on Tuesday afternoon in Lice. The soldiers were taken to Diyarbakır’s Dicle University Hospital by helicopter. One of the soldiers, who was in critical condition, died from his injuries, according to the military.
The military said reinforcement units, helicopters and a reconnaissance airplane had been dispatched to the area. Another two soldiers were killed and one was wounded in a clash with terrorist PKK members in Hani, >another district in Diyarbakır, on Tuesday evening.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the military said approximately 100-150 people from the town of Gömeç in Hani attempted to form a human shield against an operation launched when PKK terrorists closed the Diyarbakır-Bingöl highway to traffic on Monday evening. PKK terrorists disguised themselves as villagers, and a clash broke out between them and security forces at around 8:55 p.m. Two soldiers were killed and another was wounded during the exchange of fire, according to the military.
In the meantime, a police officer was injured in a PKK attack carried out against a police station in the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır. The police responded to the attack by PKK terrorists who opened fire on the station. The terrorists then fled the scene. The injured police officer was taken to Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital for treatment.
Source: Zaman