Five Turkish soldiers were dead in a bomb attack from the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Hakkari on Sunday.
Bomb attack in Hakkari took place when a handmade bomb planted on a highway was detonated with a remote control while a military vehicle was passing by in the Aktütün region of the district of Şemdinli around 12.05 p.m.
The General Staff released a statement over the attack, wishing God’s mercy upon the fallen soldiers and conveying condolences to their families and friends, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and Turkish nation.
The PKK is designated as a “terrorist organization” by the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), as well as Turkey. There have been repeated clashes between security forces and PKK members since a cease-fire between the government and the PKK’s jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, collapsed in July of last year.
Since the settlement process launched by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government in 2012 with the PKK to end the country’s long-standing Kurdish problem ended in July, nearly 200,000 locals in the Southeast have been forced to leave their homes due to fighting and curfews.
The authorities have been imposing curfews in towns and districts to flush PKK militants from urban areas in Turkey’s mostly Kurdish Southeast since then.