News / Turkey

3-month-old baby, grandfather killed in Turkey clashes

Sunday, 27 December 2015 6:24 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 27 December 2015 6:25 PM ]

Turkish masked plain clothes police officers point their guns towards activists during a clash between Kurdish activists and Turkish police in the historical Sur district on December 24, 2015 in Diyarbakir. (AFP Photo)

A three-month baby and her grandfather have been killed amid clashes between Turkey's security forces and Kurdish militants in the southeast of the country.

The family's house in the southeastern town of Cizre came under shelling on Friday night as clashes went on between Turkish security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Ramazan Ince, the grandfather, was caught in the crossfire while he was carrying his injured granddaughter, Miray, to an ambulance, witnesses told AFP on Sunday.

Miray and her grandfather both died in hospital.

The family says the fire came from the direction of the state hospital in Cizre, which is controlled by Turkish security forces.

Elsewhere, a roadside bomb killed three Turkish soldiers passing by in the town in an armored vehicle.

The explosive device exploded at 14:40 local time (12:40 GMT) when the vehicle crossed Cizre, said the Turkish military in a statement on Sunday.

The military statement blamed the attack on "members of the separatist terrorist organization," referring to the PKK.

Another soldier and a police officer were injured but their lives were not in danger, the military statement added.

The army said on Saturday that almost 200 militants have been killed in the latest military operation against the PKK since mid-December.

The military offensive marks a new escalation in five months of fighting since the collapse of a ceasefire between the government and the militants in July.

This image taken on December 24,2015 in Diyarbakir shows people leaving their houses during clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish activists in the historical Sur district (AFP Photo)

The Turkish military operations began in the wake of a deadly July 20 bombing in the southeastern town of Suruc, which left 33 people dead and 104 others injured.

After more than two years of cease-fire, deadly fighting resumed last summer between Ankara and the PKK, shattering the peace talks in 2012 to end a conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 deaths since the group began fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey in the 1980s.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk