Anti-terror ops launched in SE Turkey amid curfew

By Kaan Bozdogan

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) - The Turkish army launched Tuesday new anti-terror operations in 25 villages in the country’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir after curfews were declared earlier on the same day.

Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) launched the operations in the districts of Lice, Hani, Silvan, Kulp and Hazro in Diyarbakir, which is the main scene of ongoing anti-terror operations against the terrorist PKK group.

Counter-terrorism police teams from Ankara, Istanbul, and nearby provinces were deployed to Diyarbakir for the operation, in which around 1,000 security personnel participated.

No details were provided regarding the nature of the curfew or its duration.

The Turkish Armed Forces, in cooperation with the police, has launched broad anti-terror operations - namely in the eastern provinces of Mus, Mardin, Diyarbakir, Sirnak, Hakkari, Van, and Bingol - aimed at clearing cities of PKK terrorists, filling in trenches, removing barricades, and destroying explosive traps.

The PKK - listed as a terrorist organization also by the U.S., and the EU - resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state about 11 months ago.

Since then, nearly 600 security personnel, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred, and more than 7,700 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.

*Anadolu Agency correspondent Fatma Bulbul contributed to this report from Istanbul.