Turkish army says 1,000 terrorists killed in operations

ANKARA

The Turkish military released figures from two counter-terrorism operations in the country’s southeast Monday.

According to a statement from the General Staff, 495 PKK terrorists were killed in Nusaybin, a town lying on the Syrian border in Mardin province, since the operation began. In Sirnak the military said 505 terrorists were killed.

Both operations were launched March 14 and ended June 3, when Anadolu Agency reported similar figures based on information from a security source.

In a statement, the military said security forces captured more than 2,800 improvised explosive devices and destroyed more than 750 shelters.

The military also said a PKK terrorist was “captured dead” Sunday during an operation in a rural area of Sirnak province and four were killed in Semdinli, a district of Hakkari province bordering Iran and Iraq.

Further west, in Gaziantep’s Oguzeli district, a suspected Daesh terrorist was arrested, the statement added.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization also by the U.S., and the EU -- resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July last year, since when more than 500 security force members have been martyred and around 4,900 PKK terrorists killed.