18 PKK/PYD terrorists killed after attacks from Syria

By Kemal Karadag

ANKARA (AA) - Eleven PKK/PYD terrorists were killed by Turkish artillery after a mortar attack on a southern border post, the military said Friday.

The army post in Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, was targeted by mortar fire from Syria late Thursday, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement.

No soldiers were killed or wounded in the mortar attack.

The statement said Turkey responded with a heavy artillery bombardment that killed a three-man PKK/PYD mortar team as well as eight terrorists manning a vehicle-fixed heavy machine gun.

In a separate incident Thursday afternoon, a frontier post at Akcakale, around 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Ceylanpinar, was attacked from Syria.

The military said seven PKK/PYD members were killed in response by Turkish artillery. A heavy machine gun was also captured, the statement added. Again, there were no Turkish casualties.

The PKK/PYD is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU.

Since the PKK launched its terror campaign in 1984, an estimated 40,000 people have been killed in Turkey in related violence.

Following a fragile cease-fire, the group resumed fighting in July 2015, since when it has been responsible for the deaths of approximately 1,200 security personnel and civilians, according to an official tally.