Army says six terrorists killed in southeast Turkey

ANKARA

Six PKK terrorists were killed on Monday in ongoing anti-terror operations in southeast Turkey, the military said today.

The Turkish General Staff said in a statement that “three separatist terror organization members were neutralized” in Sirnak Province’s Cizre district, and three others were killed in Diyarbakir province’s Sur district.

Cizre and Sur are two districts which have been the focus of counter-terror operations and military curfews for more than a month.

Tuesday’s statement said the total number of terrorists killed in Cizre since operations started in mid-December had reached 508. Separately, a total of 148 terrorists have been killed in Sur district, the military said.

The Turkish General Staff also reported that the security forces had destroyed seven handmade explosive devices during Monday’s operation.

The PKK -- designated a terrorist organization also by the U.S. and the EU -- renewed its armed campaign against the Turkish state in late July. Since then more than 250 members of the security forces have been martyred.

- 30 Daesh suspects in custody

The Turkish General Staff also said that a total of 30 Daesh suspects were being held Monday in southeastern Kilis and Diyarbakir provinces, near the border with Syria.

The statement said that 15 suspected members of Daesh, including two foreign citizens and nine minors, were detained while trying to illegally cross the border from Syria to Turkey in Kilis’s Elbeyli district.

Separately, seven Daesh suspects -- including six foreign citizens -- were detained in the same district during a police patrol.

In Diyarbakir province, security forces detained eight foreign Daesh-linked suspects while attempting to illegally cross the border to Syria.