MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Seven Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters were killed during a security operation carried out by Turkish forces in the southeastern province of Mardin, local media reported on Monday.
The clashes between Turkish servicemen and PKK fighters erupted on Sunday in the Artuklu district of the Mardin province, the Anadolu news agency reported citing the country’s General Staff.
The Turkish forces also managed to seize two M-16 and four AK-47 assault rifles, a gun, 30 clips and 10 hand grenades.
On the same day security forces also found an improvised explosive device in southeastern Diyarbakir province’s Hazro district while conducting a routine security check. The device was later destroyed by security forces.
Tensions between Ankara and the Kurds, the largest ethnic minority in the country, escalated in July 2015, when a ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK collapsed because of a series of terror attacks allegedly committed by PKK members. The PKK, a militant group fighting for Kurdish independence from Turkey, is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
Earlier on Monday, Turkish Minister of National Defense Fikri Isik said that since July 23, 2015, Turkey had neutralized 10,091 PKK fighters with 7,071 of them having been killed.
