Three outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists who were loading explosives into a car that was destroyed by Turkish security forces have been killed in Turkey’s eastern province of Van, the Milliyet daily reported on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the Van Governor’s Office, three militants were killed in the Gürpınar district of Van with the support from air forces.
The car bomb, which was sent to Van to be used in an attack, was seized on Monday and two terrorists were caught.
Turkish authorities had conducted direct talks with jailed PKK chief Abdullah Öcalan for several years until a truce in effect collapsed in the summer of 2015.
Since then, there have been heavy clashes between the PKK and Turkish security forces.
More than 40,000 people, including 5,500 security force members, have been killed in four decades of fighting between the Turkish state and the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU.