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Turkish war planes hit PKK positions in SE Turkey

Xinhua, August 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkish Air Forces launched airstrikes aganist the positions of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey on late Monday and early Tuesday, a military statement.

The Turkish Air Forces conducted military operations on some 17 PKK targets in Buzuldagi and Ikinyaka regions in Hakkari province, said the statement released by the Turkish Armed Forces.

Also on Tuesday, one soldier of the Turkish security forces was killed in an attack by the PKK militants in southeastern Turkey, the military said.

A group of PKK members staged the attack against a military base in Sirnak province early Tuesday, leaving one Turkish soldier seriously wounded, said the statement issued by the Turkish Armed Forces, adding that the injured soldier died in Sirnak Military Hospital.

The PKK members carried out two other armed attacks against security forces in southeastern Diyarbakir and eastern Tunceli provinces on late Monday, with no reported causalities, private Dogan News Agency reported.

The PKK has been carrying attacks against the Turkish security forces almost every day since late July, almost 30 security forces were killed in PKK attacks in three weeks.

The assaults triggered military operations by the Turkish Armed Forces against the group after two years of de facto ceasefire between the PKK and the government. Renewed conflicts led to the suspension of the peace process launched in 2012 between the Turkish state and the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Tension between the PKK and Turkish security forces has been mounting following a tumultuous week that began with an Islamic State (IS) suicide bomb on July 20, which killed 32 and injured 104 activists in the town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province bordering Syria.

The People's Defense Forces (HPG), affiliated with the PKK, claimed responsibility for killing two police officers in retaliation to the Suruc bombing, suggesting that the policemen were linked to the IS.

Turkish security forces have detained over 1,300 individuals with suspected links to IS, PKK and leftist groups, according to a statement by the Turkish prime minister's office, as the military unleashed several airstrikes on PKK positions in northern Iraq.

Some 40,000 have been killed since 1984, when the armed group launched its first attack. Endit