PKK kills 9 Turkish troops in clashes in Kurdish southeast: HPG
Kurdish PKK female fighter, Turkish Kurdistan. Photo: Courtesy of PKK media/kurdishstruggle/Flickr
QANDIL, Iraqi Kurdistan,,— Nine Turkish soldiers were killed and 3 others wounded in an ambush by Kurdish PKK fighters in the countryside of Sirnak province in Turkish Kurdistan in country’s southeast, the PKK said in released a statement published by Firat News Agency.
The Peoples’ Defense Forces (HPG) HPG, the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), released a statement announcing the details of the actions carried out by Kurdish guerrillas and continued attacks by the Turkish army in Kurdistan territory.
The statement said that a “Turkish military unit engaged in ambush activities in Kato Jirka area of ??rnak’s Beytü??ebap district were put under surveillance by YJA-Star guerrillas on September 3rd. PKK guerrillas ambushed this unit and hit them as part of the Martyr Medya Mawa and Martyr R?zgar Gever Vengeance Initiative at 19:00 in the evening. While th Turkish unit came under fire from three directions, 9 soldiers were killed as a result, while 3 others were wounded.”
“Following the action, Turkish army bombed the area with howitzers and mortars, and removed the dead and wounded soldiers from the area with Sikorsky helicopters.”
“On September 2, Turkish fighter jets and attack helicopters shelled the Geliye Kesane area in Tatvan district of Bitlis. The bombardment did not result in any losses among guerrilla forces.” the statement said.
“Turkish warplanes bombed the Xantur area in Heftanin region of Medya Defense Zones on September 4. Two [PKK] guerrilla fighters were martyred in this bombardment and their ID details will be announced to the public later on.”
“On September 5th, Turkish jets bombed the Werxele area in Avashin region of Medya Defense Zones. Guerrilla forces did not suffer any loss in this bombardment” said the HPG statement.
The Turkish military routinely carries out airstrikes and artillery bombardments in Iraq’s Kurdistan region against suspected PKK targets, but their frequency has increased since Ankara launched “Operation Claw” in May 2019, as have civilian casualties.
In August 2019, Turkey has launched a third military operation “Claw-3” against Kurdish PKK militants in Iraqi Kurdistan region.
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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