Turkey: 2 soldiers, ambulance driver martyred in terror attack

SIRNAK

Two soldiers were martyred and nine security forces personnel injured in two attacks by PKK terrorists in southeastern Turkey, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement Friday.

Both incidents, which occurred around six hours apart on Thursday night and early Friday, took place in Beytussebap, a mountainous district of Sirnak province that borders Syria and Iraq.

A group of terrorists set up blockades and opened fire on security forces, the statement said without giving any further details.

An ambulance driver who arrived to help the wounded personnel was also killed and paramedics kidnapped, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said later Friday. He did not specify the attack the ambulance had been responding to.

The injured, including a village guard, were taken to a military hospital in Sirnak.

After the attack, Turkish ground forces backed by aircraft killed 34 terrorists, the military statement added.

The attack is the latest since the PKK renewed its armed campaign in late July. More than 120 members of the security forces have been martyred since. The Turkish armed forces claim to have killed around 1,200 terrorists.

Fighting between the PKK and the Turkish state had seen a fragile lull for two-and-a-half years as the “solution process” sought an end the 30-year conflict but was reignited following the July 20 Suruc massacre.