DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY: Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants staged anattack near a military base in southeast Turkey’s Siirt province, killingsix Turkish security force members and wounding seven, security sourcessaid on Friday.
They said the attack occurred in the area of a military base in the Eruhdistrict of Siirt and that those killed were from a village guard militiawhich supports the Turkish military. The sources initially said fivesoldiers were killed.
It was not clear when the attack occurred. State-run Anadolu news agencysaid four soldiers and three village guards were also wounded in theattack, which occurred in an area where road construction work was beingcarried out.
The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States andthe European Union. Conflict in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey generallyescalates as spring arrives in the mountainous region.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict between theTurkish state and the PKK, which launched a separatist insurgency in 1984.The conflict intensified after a ceasefire collapsed in 2015.
Earlier this month, Turkey captured the northern Syrian town of Afrin aftera two-month offensive against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankaraviews as an extension of the PKK. – APP/AFP