A total of 11 soldiers killed in two separate PKK attacks on late Friday in eastern Van and southeastern Mardin provinces.
Three soldiers, three village guards and a civilian woman were injured when a group of PKK terrorists attacked a military post in Mardin's Dargeçit district. Two soldiers and a village guard died of their wounds in a nearby hospital.
Meanwhile, ongoing clashes between security forces and PKK terrorists left eight soldiers dead and eight others wounded near Mount Tendürek located between eastern Van and Ağrı provinces.
One soldier and three village guards were killed and 18 soldiers were injured in the same area on Thursday, and an operation was launched to capture the terrorists. Initially, 11 terrorists were captured dead. Following the latest attack, Turkish jets conducted airstrikes in the area overnight, killing 13 terrorists.
The PKK-listed as a terrorist organization also by the U.S. and EU-resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015. Since then, more than 600 security personnel have been martyred and more than 7,000 PKK terrorists killed.
Formed in 1978, the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state for an independent Kurdistan since the 1980s. The group then shifted its goal to autonomy in the predominately Kurdish regions of Turkey.
Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) units and PKK's Syrian wing PYD are also engaged in a regional rivalry in northern Syria after Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield to
