Turkish forces kill 54 PKK terrorists over past week

By Muhammed Boztepe

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish security forces killed at least 54 PKK terrorists in nationwide operations over the past week, an official statement said Friday.

Turkish General Staff shared details of counter-terrorism operations performed across the country from July 13 to 20.

At least one Turkish soldier was martyred and 26 others were injured in the operations.

The operations were carried out in Pervari district of southeastern Siirt province, Nusaybin, Artuklu and Omerli districts of southeastern Mardin province, Beytussebap district of southeastern Sirnak province, Yuksekova district of southeastern Hakkari province, Silvan and Kulp district of southeastern Diyarbakir province, Hasankeyf and Sason district of southeastern Batman province.

Also, operations were conducted in Karayazi district of eastern Erzurum province and Gurpinar district of eastern Van province.

At many as 16 terrorist hideouts were destroyed during the raids.

Seventeen infantry rifles, two machine guns, one Zagros rifle, two RPG launchers, one shotgun, 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of explosives, 696 kilograms (1534 pounds) ammonium nitrate, two mortars and five RPG ammunition, 13 hand grenades, two mines, 52 cylinders, 1,237 boxy machine guns cartridges, 324 anti-aircraft ammunition, one cannon ball, one binocular, three handheld radios, 32 chargers, a great quantity of cables used to make improvised explosives were confiscated during the operations, the statement added.

43,260 packages of smuggled cigarettes were also seized.

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

Since then, more than 1,200 victims, including security personnel and civilians, have lost their lives.