2 children wounded in suspected explosion in SE Turkey

By Mehmet Arif Altunkaynak

MARDIN, Turkey (AA) - Two children were wounded Saturday by a suspected bomb blast while playing in a street in the southeastern Mardin province's Nusaybin district, a medical source said.

Muhammed Muldur, 6, and his cousin, Yusuf Muldur, 12, were injured after an object they found in the street exploded, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media. The source added that their injuries are not life-threatening.

The incident took place in the district's Dicle neighborhood after the Nusaybin governor’s website warned people Wednesday of ongoing military operations against the PKK terrorist organization in some areas, including Dicle.

Stating that security forces are sweeping for homemade explosives planted by terrorists, the website urged people to avoid certain areas and stay home from midnight to 5.00 a.m. local time.

Nusaybin is a district on the Syrian border which has been the focus of counter-terrorism operations since last March. The Dicle neighborhood is just 1 kilometer from the northern Syrian town of Qamishli, currently held by the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, the PYD.

More than 1,200 people, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives since the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.

The PYD and its armed wing the YPG have been accused by academics, journalists and human rights groups of carrying out ethnic cleansing of Arabs and razing their homes in northern Syria.