Tunceli-Erzincan highway closed to traffic due to PKK attacks

A highway running between eastern provinces of Tunceli and Erzincan, has been closed on Monday afternoon due to heightened PKK attacks in the region, the Tunceli governorate said in a statement released on Monday.

"The Tunceli-Erzincan highway has been closed to traffic to prevent terrorist threats [PKK] directed at security of life and the property of our citizens," the governorate's statement said.

A group of PKK terrorists had set on fire multiple trucks, one construction equipment and placed three bombs on the Tunceli-Erzincan highway late on Friday night, after which the officials closed the road to traffic. The highway, which connects the Mediterranean and Southeastern regions with the Black Sea region, will be closed until the threat is resolved, Tunceli governorate said in its statement on Monday.

Turkey has been hit by violence since a suicide bomb attack by a suspected ISIS supporter killed 32 activists in Suruç on July 20.

The Turkish government has intensified its counterterror operations following the recent attacks carried out by the PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S., the EU and Turkey.

Formed in 1978, the terrorist group 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 militants in northern Syria.

According to military sources, 261 terrorists were killed in Turkey's airstrikes against PKK's hideouts and camps in northern Iraq.