Turkey: Police detain 31 PKK-linked suspects in five provinces

Turkish police on Friday have detained 31 PKK-linked suspects and confiscated weapons in an anti-terror operation carried out in five Turkish provinces.

Anti-terror teams - reinforced by special ops and riot police in western province of İzmir - detained 13 suspects in the simultaneous operations against the youth wing of the PKK, the Patriotic Revolutionist Youth Movement (YDG-H). The teams conducted operations in three districts: Buca, Karabağlar and Konak.

Police seized shotguns, pistols and documents.

In the capital Ankara, in the southern province Adana and in the eastern province of Van, police detained five suspects in operations against PKK.

In addition, three people were detained in anti-terror operations against PKK in the Suruç district of the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, security officials said. Police seized an AK-47 rifle, a pistol, a blank cartridge pistol, 308 bullets as well as documents.

In operations against the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) -- a network reportedly linked to the PKK -- in the southern province of Adana, anti-terror teams detained 10 suspects.

Counter-terror teams, who were reinforced by special ops and a police helicopter, said that they seized five pistols, two shotguns, bullets and cartridges and documents during the simultaneous busts.

Anti-terror teams in southern province of Mersin detained five suspects - including three minors - in the operation against YDG-H, said police.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, youths linked to the PKK terrorist organization opened fire with rifles at a police vehicle in the town of Nusaybin bordering Syria early on Friday, wounding two policemen, security sources said.

Police sources said an explosive device planted in Nusaybin district of Mardin province went off while the ditch was being filled in by security forces using heavy construction equipment on Friday.

The police officers, who were in the heavy equipment, were taken to Nusaybin Public Hospital for immediate medical attention before being sent on to Mardin Public Hospital.

Hospital officials said the officers' injuries were not life threatening.

In a separate occasion on Friday, a civilian was injured when he was caught in clashes between PKK's youth branch YDG-H and security officials in Turkey's southeastern district of Silvan in Diyarbakır.

The clashes between two parties have been going on for the last two days in the district.

The clashes reportedly broke out when the YDG-H members started digging ditches in the area to prevent the Turkish security forces from entering the region.

Meanwhile, a photo of the terrorists making a bomb in the middle of the road in the district drew attention.

Since July 24, around 1,700 people have been detained in a wave of counter-terrorism raids, amid a spike in attacks targeting police and the army after a July 20 deadly suicide bombing in the southeastern Suruç district, which killed 32 civilians.

The bombing and later deadly attacks on security forces led to a nationwide crackdown on militant groups-primarily ISIS, terrorist organization PKK and the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).

All three groups are recognized as terrorist groups by Turkey, the U.S. and the E.U.

Formed in 1978, PKK has been fighting the Turkish government for an independent state until the early 2000's. The group then shifted its goal to autonomy in predominately Kurdish inhabited regions of Turkey.

The PKK announced on July 11 that the cease-fire which was declared via a message from the PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan in 2013 has ended.

Turkish security forces have arrested hundreds of people with suspected links to ISIS, the PKK, and leftist groups, detaining over 1,300 people across the country, according to a recent statement released by the Prime Minister's Office.

The Turkish Air Force has been carrying airstrikes against the PKK in northern Iraq and the ISIS terrorists in northern Syria.