HAKKARI, Turkey
The number of people detained over the shooting of three soldiers in the eastern Turkish province of Hakkari rose to eight on Monday, security officials have said.
Two people were detained in the same region while another was detained in Turkey’s southwest Aegean town of Bodrum on Monday.
The investigation is still ongoing, regional security officials confirmed.
Three soldiers were killed on Saturday afternoon by two masked men while they were in the town center dressed in civilian clothing, Interior Minister Efkan Ala told reporters on Saturday.
Sergeant Ramazan Gulle and Private Officers Yunus Yilmaz and Ramazan Kose were on duty in the Hakkari province’s town of Yuksekova.
Special security forces raided multiple places on Sunday morning in connection with the ongoing investigation.
Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan described the shooting of "civilian clothed, unarmed" people as "the biggest cowardice."
Akdogan also said the PKK was having a "panic attack" and accused it of disrupting the solution process, which was launched two years ago.
In addition, the outlawed PKK kidnapped three people Monday, including a village chief, in the Pervari town of Siirt province, located in the southeast, the regional gendarmerie said.
A group of armed terrorists came to Pervari’s village of Yapraktepe and abducted three villagers: Abdulaziz Sevil, Esed Sevil and the village chief Hasan Ozay.
Security officials have started search and rescue efforts.
The "solution process" is an effort, launched by the Turkish government two years ago, to bring an end to the decades-long conflict with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, U.S., EU and NATO.
Nearly 40 people died in violent protests earlier this month, mainly in the heavily Kurdish-populated southeastern provinces.
Most casualties were caused by street clashes between rival Kurdish groups.
The protests broke out due to the alleged inaction of the Turkish government with regards to the ISIL besiegement of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, which is located near the Turkish border.
In a similar attack, three policemen in Bingol province were shot on Oct. 9, leaving two dead.
The alleged perpetrators were killed in armed clashes with security forces following the attack.
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