Turkey: Policeman and soldier martyred in PKK ops

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

A Turkish police officer and a soldier have died in hospital after being wounded in two operations against the terrorist PKK.

A deputy police commissioner was also wounded in the attack on police teams in southeastern Diyarbakir province on Thursday, according to provincial gendarmerie and police sources.

Officers were working to fill the ditches dug by terrorists in three neighborhoods of Silvan town, as well as removing barricades.

The teams had been working since the onset of a Tuesday curfew in the area.

Another soldier was injured during an air-supported operation in Dicle town, launched after a curfew on 20 neighborhoods early Thursday morning.

The operation is ongoing, military sources said.

The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, renewed its armed campaign against the Turkish state this summer.

Since July, more than 150 members of the security forces have been martyred and almost 1,700 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq, including airstrikes.