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9 soldiers, 15 militants killed in clashes, ops in Turkey’s southeast
A total of six soldiers were killed in clashes with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) while two pilots died as a military helicopter which was dispatched to pursue militants crashed in the eastern province of Hakkari early on May 13. Meanwhile, a ninth soldier died in eastern Thrace when a military vehicle rolled down a hill. Six soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded as clashes erupted between security forces and PKK militants at the Çığlı base in Hakkari’s Çukurca district at around 4:50 a.m. on May 13. A helicopter was sent to the area to intervene against the militants but the helicopter crashed at around 5:50 a.m. due to an unknown technical problem. The General Chief of Staff released a statement on the incidents, noting that both pilots had died in the crash. An air-borne operation was launched to apprehend the militants, the statement said, adding that six PKK militants had been killed so far. A ninth soldier was killed in the Kaynarca town of Kırklareli’s Pınarhisar district as a military vehicle rolled down a hill for an unknown reason during a military exercise. In a separate incident in the southeastern province of Siirt, police forces and gendarmerie officials seized a bomb-laden car and two PKK militants late on May 12. According to security sources, gendarmerie teams attempted to stop two “suspicious” automobiles in Siirt’s Baykan district but had to chase the suspects as they ignored the warning and fled the scene. The vehicles were finally stopped near Çaykaya village where two militants were killed in the ensuing clashes and a soldier was wounded. Some 200 kilograms of improvised explosive devices were found in one of the vehicles. In anti-terror operations in neighboring Şırnak province, a total 15 PKK militants were killed over the past day, raising the total number of casualties to 355 since the beginning of the operations on March 14. Posted by: Steve White 2016-05-14 |
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