Dozens of PKK arms and ammunition were confiscated in a tractor belonging to the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) regional affiliate Democratic Regions Party (DBP) in southeastern Mardin province's Dargeçit district by security officers on Monday.

Tipped off by a citizen, security officers searched the tractor and its trailer. Following the operation, seven RPG-7 rocket launchers, one long-range armor-piercing weapon, one sniper rifle, two Bixis, five Kalashnikovs, seven grenades and one MP5 machine gun were confiscated together with hundreds of cartridges and other equipment.

Three suspects involved in the incident were also detained in the operation.

Several DBP-led municipalities were previously reported as assisting the PKK in clashes with security forces in southeastern provinces.

In August, the head of the HDP for the Eleşkirt branch in Ağrı province was reportedly caught by security units while taking two people in his vehicle to the PKK terrorist organization on Thursday.

Reportedly, Engin Dursun tried running over the officers when police units were conducting a routine vehicle check in the district that witnessed clashes with the PKK. After ignoring the order to stop his vehicle and allegedly attempting to run over the officers, Dursun was tracked by security units and caught with two others.

There have been claims that some municipalities provide assistance to the PKK by digging trenches and establishing roadblocks to acquire control over cities.

Recently, a court on Monday sentenced a co-mayor of the eastern province of Van together with 17 people to serve seven to 15 years in prison on charges of being a PKK member.

Bekir Kaya, the BDP co-mayor of Van, which has a population of around 500,000, was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison by a court in the eastern province for being a member of the PKK. Twelve other defendants in the trial were also given prison sentences of between seven-and-a-half years and 15 years. A supporter of the HDP, Kaya, 38, had already served time in jail from in 2012-13 over the PKK's role in Van.

The HDP has many times come under heavy fire for its links to the PKK. A number of its deputies have been arrested for allegedly supplying arms and food to the group. Selahattin Demirtaş, the party's co-chair, also confessed that he once considered joining the PKK, but then "decided to continue his struggle in politics." His brother, Nurettin Demirtaşis, is a PKK militant assumed to be in northern Syria.