Two security forces martyred in SE Turkey operation

By Serdar Acil

MARDIN, Turkey

Five PKK terrorists were killed in a military operation in southeastern Turkey after two security forces were martyred in an attack, according to military sources.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to media, said the security forces carried out the operation in a building and clashed with terrorists in Nusaybin district of Mardin province.

Five of the terrorists who fired and hurled hand grenades at security forces were killed on Yenisehir street of Nusaybin, said the sources.

Earlier, two security forces, including a Turkish soldier and a police officer, were martyred in Nusaybin and nine other security personnel were injured, one of them in critical condition.

Also on Thursday, one soldier was martyred and another wounded after a PKK terrorist attack in Ovacik district of Tunceli province.

A gunfight erupted after the soldiers retaliated and initially wounded two soldiers. One soldier, who was airlifted to a university hospital in the neighboring Elazig province, succumbed to his injuries.

The PKK - listed as a terrorist organization also by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU - resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, nearly 500 security personnel, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred, and over 4,900 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.

*Anadolu Agency Correspondent Servet Gunerigok contributed to this story from Ankara.