Turkish forces ‘foil PKK raid, kill 35 militants’

Turkish forces say they have killed 35 militants with a separatist Kurdish militant group who attempted to storm a military base in southeastern Turkey.

The fatalities were reportedly caused on Saturday following an attempt by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants to overrun the outpost in the Hakkari Province from three directions.

Most of them were killed in Turkish airstrikes after warplanes spotted the surging attackers.

A day earlier, the military had engaged PKK militants in the province’s Cukurca district. The fighting killed eight soldiers and wounded 25 others.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since 1984, when the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by many countries, took up arms in pursuit of establishing an independent state in southeastern Turkey.

A ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015 and attacks on Turkish security forces have soared since. Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since then.

Ankara has come under the spotlight for the civilian fatalities reportedly caused during the conflict.

The Turkish armed forces are, meanwhile, hot from undergoing an overhaul in the aftermath of a failed July 15 military coup, led by one of its factions, during which tanks, helicopters, and soldiers clashed with police and people on the streets of the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul.

The shake-up has seen about 40 percent of all generals and admirals being dismissed.

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