More than 65 terrorists neutralized in 1 week in Turkey

By Zehra Aydin

ANKARA (AA) - Security forces neutralized 68 terrorists in counter-terrorism operations in Turkey between Sept. 28 and Oct. 4, the military said Friday.

In a written statement, Turkish General Staff said 13 soldiers were also martyred and 23 others wounded during the operations.

The counter-terrorism operations were carried out in Sirnak’s Beytussebap (Incebel and Kato mountains), Cizre and Silopi districts; Hakkari’s Yuksekova district (Alanduz-Ikiyakalar), Siirt’s Baykan and Eruh districts; and Diyarbakir’s Lice and some other districts.

During the operations, 68 terrorists had been neutralized while 78 arms, including rifles and machine guns, 55 hand grenades, seven mines, 3,719 small arms ammunition, 45 magazines, 238 kilograms (524 pounds) of ammonium nitrate, 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of demolition blocks, two binoculars, five walkie-talkies and 79 tubes were seized.

Also, 22 improvised explosives were destroyed in controlled detonations. In addition, 62 weapon emplacements, shelters, caves and depots used by terrorist organization were destroyed.

Operations were also being carried out against illegal trafficking and drugs, which are terrorist organization’s important financial revenue. As a result, 301,121 packets of smuggled cigarettes and 100 liters of liquid fuel were seized.

During the controls on borders, 15,571 people were detained when they tried to cross the border illegally.

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.