The Turkish Armed Forces shared this photo of a Turkish soldier on its Google+ account on Sept. 7
An undisclosed number of Turkish soldiers were killed on Sept. 6 in a major attack in the southeastern province of Hakkari conducted by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), marking a crescendo in a deadly stream of attacks since July.
There was no immediate official casualty toll but in a sign of the gravity of the situation, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu broke off a trip to Konya to watch a national football game and summoned an emergency security meeting in Ankara, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.
Militants staged a mine attack on two military vehicles in a convoy in the Dağlıca district of Hakkari, a town bordering Iraq and Iran, security sources told daily Hürriyet. After the explosion, militants opened fire on troops.
The Turkish Armed Forces released a statement early Sept. 7, several hours after the attack, noting that the military unit attacked by militants was removing mines laid on the road by the PKK to re-open it to traffic.
The military unit removed three IEDs, the statement said, before other IEDs were detonated by PKK militants. “There are martyrs and wounded among our heroic brothers-in-arms due to the explosion,” the statement said, without giving any casualty figures.
Two F-4s and two F-16s carried out strikes in retaliation against 13 targets controlled by the militants suspected to have carried out the attack, the statement added. “Despite very bad weather conditions, the operation continues decisively.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reacted to the attack during a live television interview. “A mine attack has been staged. There will be a very particular and decisive fight there. We are very sad,” he told private broadcaster A Haber.
“The weather conditions were unfavorable. A struggle was being waged under such conditions,” he said, adding the attack happened during a “clean-up operation” against PKK militants.
The PKK claimed the attack as an “act of sabotage,” in a statement on the website of its military wing, the People’s Defense Forces (HPG).
The group – which is known for on occasion exaggerating the death tolls of security forces – said 15 Turkish soldiers had been killed. Other unconfirmed reports suggested that some soldiers had been taken prisoner by militants.
Meanwhile, one security source told Reuters that 16 Turkish soldiers were killed in the attack.
