Leading terrorist killed in eastern Turkey

ANKARA (AA) - A leading terrorist has been killed by Turkish security forces in the eastern Tunceli province, the Turkish General Staff announced Friday.

A General Staff statement said that the terrorist identified as S.I., code-named Ozan, was killed when security forces repelled his attack on a gendarmerie station in the Ovacik district.

The statement added that when a funeral was held for the terrorist in Malazgirt, Mus, few people attended.

S.I., known as being responsible for Dersim (Tunceli), is said to have joined the PKK in 1997 and had carried out many terrorist attacks over the course of 20 years.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU – resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.

Over 1,100 people, including over 800 security personnel and over 300 civilians, have lost their lives in PKK attacks since it resumed its attacks.

Over 4,000 security personnel and over 2,000 civilians have also been injured.

In anti-terror operations over that period, more than 10,000 PKK terrorists have been killed or apprehended. Around 5,500 weapons and 652,000 rounds of ammunition have been seized, along with some 142 tons of explosives and 15,000 bombs.