As many as 26 Turkish security personnel have been killed in attacks carried by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) over the past month, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported.
Meanwhile, the Turkish army said it killed 390 PKK militants and injured 400 more, including 150 who sustained serious wounds, during airstrikes against the militant group’s sites in Kurdistan.
The news agency reported Turkish military sources as saying that the militant group has sustained great losses due to Turkish airstrikes in northern Iraq on 1 August.
According to the same sources, the Turkish airstrikes killed five of the organisation’s leaders, and injured 50 more in addition to the killing of nearly 30 militants.
Turkish airstrikes have resulted in the burning of a house in Zarkli where PKK militants hid drugs and money.
A commander in the Peshmerga forces called on PKK militants to leave Kurdish villages saying their presence caused damage to the villages and their residents.
Commander Omar Osman said in a statement yesterday: “The PKK presence in the villages south of Kurdistan is illogical because Turkish planes bomb the villages and civilians are becoming victims.”
Meanwhile, Turkish security forces arrested nearly 1,600 people, most members of the PKK’s youth movement.
The Turkish security forces have arrested over 6,000 people on suspicion of belonging to outlawed or terrorist organisations including the PKK, Al-Qaeda and Daesh.