UPDATE - Turkey: Army killed 45 PKK terrorists last week

UPDATES WITH MILITARY STATEMENT ON OVERNIGHT AIRSTRIKES AGAINST PKK, MINOR EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Hamdi Celikbas and Sinan Uslu

ANKARA (AA) - Security forces killed 45 PKK terrorists over the last week, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement released Friday.

Six soldiers and one security guard were martyred and 15 soldiers were injured during various counterterrorism operations, the statement added.

Ammunition and contraband were also seized in the country’s eastern and southeastern provinces.

The deaths took place between May 18-25 in Turkey’s southeastern Sirnak, Hakkari, Diyarbakir provinces as well as Erzurum and Ardahan provinces in the northeast.

Firearms and ammunition, including three rocket-propelled grenades and over 100 kilograms of TNT were recovered in operations.

Around 2,000 kilograms of ammonium nitrate -- an ingredient used in making explosives -- were also seized. Over 60,000 packs of smuggled cigarettes were also found.

Turkish forces destroyed 26 shelters and ammunition depots used by PKK terrorists.

In a later statement, the military said airstrikes on the border between the eastern provinces of Van and Agri killed 20 PKK terrorists on Thursday night.

Jets targeted terrorists around Mount Tendurek, which lies close to the Iranian frontier, shortly after 9 p.m. local time (1900GMT).

Earlier Thursday, nine other terrorists were killed in the same area.

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

Since then, it has been responsible for the deaths of around 1,200 people, including women and children.