- Title: Turkish military says killed 417 Kurdish militants since August
- Date: 10th October 2016
- Summary: SEMDINLI, TURKEY (OCTOBER 10, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DAMAGED CAR, VAN AT BLAST SITE DEBRIS AT SITE SNEAKER ON GROUND
- Embargoed: 25th October 2016 11:07
- Keywords: Turkey blast explosion checkpoint Kurds PKK military militants
- Location: SEMDINLI, TURKEY / INTERNET
- City: SEMDINLI, TURKEY / INTERNET
- Country: Turkey
- Reuters ID: LVA00253FA3PJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Turkish security forces have killed 417 Kurdish militants since late August, the army said on Monday (October 10), a day after a truck bomb attack on a military checkpoint in southeast Turkey killed 18 people.
The blast in southeastern town of Semdinli, that hit a gendarmerie station, was one of the deadliest recent attacks in the region, near the border with Iraq and Iran where much of the army's conflict with the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is focused.
The military said in a statement the PKK's ability to stage attacks had been limited and its winter preparations disrupted, prompting it to focus on attacks with improvised explosive devices and suicide bomb attacks targeting civilians.
Since Aug. 29, 417 PKK militants have been killed, 61 have been wounded, 41 have surrendered and 18 have been captured during a campaign which the military described as "the most effective and comprehensive of recent years".
It said 88 members of the Turkish security forces have been killed and 152 wounded during the same period, adding the operations will continue with resolve "until the last terrorist has been neutralised".
The PKK, which launched its separatist insurgency in 1984, is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
The group's two-year ceasefire collapsed in July last year and the violence has subsequently risen to levels not seen since the height of the conflict in the 1990s. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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