1 soldier martyred, 9 heavily injured in SE Turkey

MARDIN (AA) - One soldier was martyred and nine others were heavily injured in operations against the terrorist group PKK in Turkey’s southeastern province of Mardin on Thursday, officials said.

After a handmade bomb exploded in Mardin’s Abdulkadir Pasa neighborhood, the injured soldiers were taken to Nusaybin State Hospital.

They were deployed as part of the ongoing Hawk-7 Operation meant to fill in PKK-made trenches, lift barricades, destroy handmade PKK explosives, and re-establish public order in the region.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU – resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, more than 450 members of the security forces, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred, and over 4,500 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.