UPDATE - Turkey: Terrorist who murdered 5 civilians neutralized

UPDATES WITH BACKGROUND

By Muhammed Nuri Erdogan

ANKARA (AA) – A terrorist responsible for murdering five civilians has been “neutralized” in eastern Turkey, officials announced on Tuesday.

In clashes with terrorists in the eastern Sirnak-Silopi area, Turkish forces fighting in Operation Mt. Cudi neutralized Osman Durmus, codenamed Aliser, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Durmus’s NEA-15 infantry rifle was also seized, and large amounts of ammunition and hand grenades seized in the operation were destroyed, it added.

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

Bomb attacks this April 14 and June 17 that Durmus was part of killed a total of five civilians, said the ministry.

His terrorist affiliation was not given, but the terror group PKK has been active in the region.

Turkey on Tuesday launched a domestic anti-terror operation against the PKK terrorists. A total of 1,485 military personnel participated in the operation launched in Mt. Cudi in the southeastern Sirnak province.

Ramping up its fight against terrorists, Turkey launched Operation Kapan last month to eliminate terrorists in the southeastern Mardin province, after completing Operation Kiran across the region against YPG/PKK terrorists.

Last August, Turkey launched Operation Kiran in the country's southeastern Van, Hakkari, and Sirnak provinces, followed by 10 more iterations of the operation.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

* Writing by Firdevs Bulut and Erdogan Cagatay Zontur.