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Turkey declares curfew on rural areas in Diyarbakir

Xinhua, June 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

A curfew was declared early Tuesday in 25 villages located in southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakir, local governor's office stated on Tuesday.

The curfew in 25 villages in the Lice, Hani, Silvan and Hazro districts of Diyarbakir started at 5 a.m. on June 21, as security forces initiated a wide-scale operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants in the region, Diyarbakir Governor's office stated on its website.

Armored vehicles and professional teams were dispatched to the area.

Meanwhile, Police in Diyarbakir discovered a minibus loaded with one ton of explosives in Ergani district on Monday night, local news reported Tuesday.

The explosives in the minibus, which was carrying a fake plate of Turkish capital Ankara, were deactivated by bomb experts after police teams evacuated nearby houses and blocked the entrances and exits to the neighborhood of the scene. The van was taken to a police station.

The Turkish Armed Forces stated on Tuesday that the air forces carried out aerial operations against PKK targets in rural areas of Lice in Diyarbakir and Kandil, Sinat and Haftanin regions of northern Iraq on Monday.

Diyarbakir, of which the most population is Kurds rather than Turks, has been a focal point for conflict between Turkish armed forces and PKK militants.

Over 470 members of Turkish security forces and thousands of PKK members have been killed in confrontations inside Turkey and in northern Iraq since last July.

More than 40,000 people have lost their lives in clashes with the PKK since 1984, when the group first started anti-government attacks.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Turkey. Endit