KARS, Turkey
A worker has been killed and a village guard wounded in northeastern Turkey on Thursday as he was restoring the rails following a bomb attack against a freight train, officials said.
Governor of Kars province, Adem Unal told Anadolu Agency that “an operation is under way in the area to catch the terrorists.”
He said that following the attack on the freight train, railway workers went to the region to restore the rails, under the protection of the security forces.
But they were attacked again, he said.
“The railway worker [Necdet Inanc, 64] was shot in the head as he found himself in the middle of the clash [between security forces and militants].”
“The village guard [Mehmet Celik, 45] was rushed to the Sarikamis State Hospital,” he said.
A freight train was attacked with bomb while traveling from Erzurum to Kars earlier on Thursday.
Turkey has been hit by attacks on security forces since the July 20 Suruc bombing killed 32 activists.
Ankara has responded by detaining more than 1,300 suspected supporters of groups such as Daesh and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) -- recognized as terrorist groups by Turkey, the EU and the U.S. -- as well as launching airstrikes in Syria and Iraq.
