One soldier martyred in Turkey's southeast

ANKARA

A soldier was martyred in an attack by PKK terrorists in southeastern Diyarbakir province’s Sur district early Monday, the Turkish military has said.

According to a statement from the Turkish General Staff, the soldier was severely wounded during an ongoing anti-terror operation in the district and later succumbed to his wounds in hospital.

Turkey's southeast has been the scene of significant military operations since Dec. 2015 as security forces clear urban centers of the PKK -- designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU -- which renewed its armed campaign against the Turkish state in late July 2015.

The army said on Saturday that since July of last year, an estimated 1,250 terrorists have been killed in Nusaybin, Dargecit and Derik districts of Mardin province, Silvan and Sur districts of Diyarbakir along with Silopi, Cizre and Idil districts of the province of Sirnak and Varto district of Mus.

Only 260 of the terrorist death toll was from Diyarbakir’s Sur.

The military said the number of ditches and barricades removed in its operations reached 2,307 in total, 85 of which took place in Dargecit, 22 in Silvan, 788 in Silopi, 951 in Cizre, 24 in Derik, 52 in Nusaybin, 174 in Idil and 211 in Sur.

Nearly 3,000 explosive devices planted in houses, gardens and on roads have been dealt with in the areas where the operations took place.

More than 280 security forces personnel have been martyred and thousands of PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq since December 2015.