By Xinhua,
Ankara : Turkish military Thursday said five soldiers of the security forces were killed in operations against the banned Kurdish Workers’ party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey.
The General Staff said in a statement on its website that “four troops were killed in a clash with a group of terrorists in Kavaliregion in the southeastern province of Hakkari on Oct. 15.”
The statement said reinforcement troops were sent to the region by helicopters and one of the helicopters crashed due to a technical failure.
A soldier died in the crash, bringing the death toll to five,” it said, adding that 15 others were slightly injured.
Meanwhile, the army said that five PKK terrorists were killed in counter-terrorism operations in Hakkari and in the neighboring province of Sirnak.
On Oct. 3, 17 Turkish soldiers were killed when PKK militants based in northern Iraq attacked Aktutun Gendarmerie Border Unit in Semdinli town in the province of Hakkari, and 23 PKK militants were also killed in the clashes.
The tension is mounting after the deadliest attack happened in the year and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the military have pledged to intensify a campaign to crush the outlawed PKK.
The PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Some 40,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.