20 Turkish soldiers killed in clashes with PKK in Turkey’s Kurdish southeast: HPG
Kurdish PKK female fighter, 2019. Photo: ANF
DIYARBAKIR-AMED, Turkey Kurdistan,— Twenty Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with Kurdish militants belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK in Turkish Kurdistan in the southeast of the country, HPG, the military wing of PKK said in a statement on Saturday.
HPG Press Center issued a written statement published by Firat News Agency ANF, announced that 14 Turkish soldiers were killed in a PKK action in Sirnak’s Uludere district and 6 soldiers in the ensuing clashes.
The HPG statement said: “On August 1 our forces carried out an action against the invading Turkish army positioned on a hill to ensure security of the Martyr Kendal outpost in Sirnak’s Qileban (Uludere) district. Our forces advanced to the positions in a raid style and struck the enemy soldiers at close range. They entered the positions and killed 14 enemy soldiers on the hill, and injured several. After the action the Turkish army bombed the vicinity with Howitzers, mortars and jets.”
“On August 2, the invading Turkish army launched an operation in the vicinity of Martyr Welat Hill. Clashes broke out between our forces and Turkish soldiers. 6 soldiers were killed in these clashes and 4 were injured.”
“On July 29 at noon, our forces carried out a sabotage action against a Turkish army vehicle transporting supplies to the Stuna Hill in Hakkari’s Cele (Cukurca) district. In this action the vehicle was damaged and 1 specialist sergeant and 1 counterguerrilla unit were heavily injured.” the statement added.
Four PKK fighters were killed in the clashes, according to the statement.
The statement said “4 of our comrades fought until their last bullet and detonated their own bombs to not fall captive to the enemy.”
Turkey has been fighting the PKK since a fragile ceasefire between both sides collapsed in 2015.
The Turkish military routinely carries out airstrikes and artillery bombardments in Iraqi Kurdistan against suspected PKK targets, but their frequency has increased since Ankara launched “Operation Claw” in May 2019, as have civilian casualties.
A second phase of that operation was started in July 2019.
The PKK took up arms in 1984 against the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to push for greater autonomy in Turkish Kurdistan for the Kurdish minority who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 79-million population. More than 40,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish rebels, have been killed in the conflict.
A large Kurdish community in Turkey and worldwide openly sympathise with PKK rebels and Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the PKK group in 1974 and currently serving a life sentence in Turkey, has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in Turkey and worldwide according to observers.
(With files from Anfenglish.com)
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