UPDATE 3 - Soldier martyred in anti-PKK operation in SE Turkey

UPDATES WITH MARTYRED SOLDIER IN MARDIN PROVİNCE

By Ferdi Turkten

ANKARA (AA) - At least 33 PKK terrorists have been killed in an air-backed operation in southeastern Turkey which started late Thursday, according to an armed forces statement.

Raising the number of terrorists killed from an initial 27 to 33, a Turkish Armed Forces statement put the total number of dead and wounded at 63 so far, from the operation in the vicinity of the Hakkari province’s Cukurca district.

In addition, one soldier was martyred and six were wounded in the operation.

Earlier, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement that warplanes carried out three airstrikes in a rural area of Cukurca between 8.30 a.m. (0530GMT) and 2.20 p.m. (1120GMT) Friday.

According to the statement, five Dochka anti-aircraft gun positions plus two PKK hideouts were destroyed in the airstrikes.

- String of attacks in SE

Separately, two soldiers were wounded in a roadside bomb detonated by PKK terrorists when a military vehicle passed by in Silvan, in the southeastern Diyarbakir province.

The injured soldiers were taken to the Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital, according to a security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

Elsewhere, a soldier was martyred and four security officers were wounded in an armed attack by PKK terrorists on a checkpoint in the southeastern Mardin province's Dargecit district.

The injured were promptly taken to the Dargecit and Midyat State Hospitals.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization also by the U.S. and EU – resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015. Since then, more than 600 security personnel have been martyred and more than 7,000 PKK terrorists killed.