One soldier martyred SE Turkey

MARDIN, Turkey

A soldier was martyred Thursday during an anti-PKK terror operation in the Turkish southeastern province of Mardin.

Security sources told Anadolu Agency that the soldier died in Nusaybin State Hospital after being injured by a hand-made explosive blast in the Dicle neighborhood.

Turkish armed forces and police have been staging a joint operation since March 14 in the district to apprehend PKK terrorists, fill ditches and remove barricades.

Separately, the Bitlis governor's office said Thursday in a statement that a terrorist had been “neutralized” in clashes with village guards in the district of Mutki and that two others had been killed by Turkish soldiers.

Meanwhile, two children, a four-year-old boy, Harun Cagli, and a six-year-old girl, Aysenur Gecit, were killed Thursday in Sirnak’s Cizre district by an indeterminate explosion.

The girl’s father, Muhittin Gecit told reporters that the two children were playing in a house's yard when they found explosive material inside a case.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU – resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, over 350 members of the security forces have been martyred and thousands of PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.

MARDIN, Turkey

A soldier was martyred Thursday during an anti-PKK terror operation in the Turkish southeastern province of Mardin.

Security sources told Anadolu Agency that the soldier died in Nusaybin State Hospital after being injured by a hand-made explosive blast in the Dicle neighborhood.

Turkish armed forces and police have been staging a joint operation since March 14 in the district to apprehend PKK terrorists, fill ditches and remove barricades.

Meanwhile, two children, a four-year-old boy, Harun Cagli, and a six-year-old girl, Aysenur Gecit, were killed Thursday in Sirnak’s Cizre district by an indeterminate explosion.

The girl’s father, Muhittin Gecit told reporters that the two children were playing in a house's yard when they found explosive material inside a case.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU – resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, over 350 members of the security forces have been martyred and thousands of PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.