Turkey: 91 PKK fighters 'neutralized' in Turkey, Kurdistan Region

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Turkey’s military command announced on Saturday that, in the previous week, Turkish forces had “neutralized a total of 91 terrorists” in Turkey’s southeastern provinces and the Kurdistan Region.

Turkish officials routinely use the word “neutralized” in statements to refer to Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who surrendered or were killed or captured.

The statement, from Office of the General Staff, which presides over all Turkish armed forces, claimed all 91 PKK casualties, one of them said to be “a leader,” occurred between the dates of March 17 to March 23.

Four Turkish soldiers were said to have been killed in the operations, and 10 wounded.

The domestic provinces of Diyarbakir, Bitlis, Sirnak, and Bingol were listed as where the “neutralization” took place, but no locations within the Kurdistan Region were offered.

Turkish airstrikes late Thursday night targeting PKK fighters in Erbil Province’s Choman district are reported to have killed four civilians, an action condemned by both Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

According to a Kurdistan 24 correspondent in the affected area, at least 10 PKK fighters were also killed.

Additionally, the statement details the Turkish military’s seizure of “21 infantry rifles, two AT-4 anti-tank guns, one shotgun, one anti-aircraft machine gun, four machine guns, one sniper rifle, two rocket launchers, [and] two pistols.”

It also said multiple artillery shells, mortars, anti-tank mines, grenades, C-4 explosives, detonators, night vision binoculars, handheld radios, and handmade explosives were confiscated.

According to the office, Turkish forces destroyed or rendered unusable multiple gun positions, shelters, caves, and depots.

The PKK took up arms against Ankara in the 1980s to demand more rights for the Kurds in a conflict that has killed thousands of people on both sides.

Turkish bombardment of the vast border areas of Turkey, Iran, and the Kurdistan Region have become commonplace since the Turkey-PKK peace process broke down in July 2015.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany