Turkish security forces kill 45 PKK terrorists

By Hande Ilbeyi Canca

ANKARA

Security forces killed 45 PKK terrorists over the previous week, the military said Friday.

In a regular statement on counter-terrorism operations, the General Staff said the terrorists were killed in the southeastern provinces of Sirnak, Hakkari, Diyarbakir, Batman, Mardin and Bitlis.

Weapons including rifles, handguns, hand grenades, a machine gun and a grenade launcher were seized during the operations, the statement added. Around 1,250 kilograms (2,755 pounds) of ammonium nitrate was also captured.

Eight shelters used by terrorists were destroyed and four cars were impounded.

Contraband confiscated over the week included 10,000 kilograms (nearly 10 tons) of cannabis and more than 55,000 packages of smuggled cigarettes.

Nearly 3,000 illicit migrants were stopped at Turkey’s borders, the statement added.

Five soldiers were martyred and another five were injured in operations last week.

More than 1,200 people, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives since the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.