Four Turkish soldiers killed in clashes with PKK terrorists


Four soldiers were killed on Tuesday in a clash with the PKK in southeastern Diyarbakır province's Sur district, a written statement released by the General Staff on the day of the incident said.As security forces continue counter terror operations in the district to cleanse each street of hand-made explosives and fill ditches, a PKK sniper fired at them and another PKK terrorist fired a rocket launcher, leaving six soldiers wounded. Even though the wounded were rushed to Diyarbakır Military Hospital, four succumbed to their wounds."During the ongoing operations in the Sur district of Diyarbakır province on Jan. 27, 2016, six heroic fellow soldiers have been wounded, four of whom are critical. Three of the four critical fellow soldiers died at the hospital despite all efforts," the statement from the General Staff said, while agencies reported later that heavily wounded soldier passed away.Curfews were imposed yesterday in five neighborhoods and a street of the Sur district, reportedly causing locals in the neighborhoods to flee.The district governorate explained the decision as necessary in order to establish public order, remove barricades, fill ditches, detonate explosives and prevent civilians from being hurt.The total number of neighborhoods where curfews are imposed rose to 11 with the recent decree.Eleven terrorists in the Cizre district of Şırnak province and nine terrorists in the Sur district of Diyarbakır province were killed in separate operations on Monday, the General Staff's daily briefing statement said.The total number of terrorists killed since the beginning of the operations in the two districts has reached 599, the statement said.Security forces also seized 261 Kalashnikov rifles, 12 Molotov cocktails, PKK documents and equipment in Cizre. Six handmade explosives were also destroyed in the operations. According to the General Staff, the total number of PKK deaths in Sur increased to 134 in that area, while 465 PKK terrorists had been killed since Dec. 15 in the Cizre operations.The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU. It renewed its armed campaign against the Turkish state in late July 2015. Since then more than 240 members of the Turkish security forces have been killed.