UPDATE - 2 children killed in PKK bomb blast in southeast Turkey

UPDATES WITH KILLING OF 7 PKK TERRORISTS

By Ekrem Payan

SIRNAK, Turkey (AA) – Seven PKK terrorists and two children were killed in two separate incidents in southeastern Turkey’s Sirnak province Saturday, according to Turkish authorities.

In the first incident, two children were killed in a PKK terrorist bomb attack in the southeastern city of Sirnak, a medical source said.

Four other children were injured in the explosion and were still being treated, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media. The children’s ages and further details were unclear but two died in hospital.

Earlier, the provincial governor’s office said PKK terrorists had planted a bomb in a street.

Later, the regional governor’s office said in a statement that at least seven PKK terrorists were killed during a security operation in Sirnak Saturday.

The operation in the province’s Bestler-Dereler region remains ongoing, the statement said, adding that several weapons had also been seized.

An extensive security operation in the region remains ongoing.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July last year. Since then, PKK terrorist attacks martyred more than 700 security personnel and also claimed the lives of many civilians, including women and children, while nearly 8,000 PKK terrorists were killed in army operations.