Turkish security forces prepare operation in Hakkari

Nearly 350 PKK terrorists are holed up in Yuksekova, one of the areas of southeast Turkey placed under a curfew on Sunday, a security source said Monday.

Citing intelligence provided by unmanned aerial drones, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said 140 explosive booby-traps, 160 barricades and 30 ditches had been observed in the town.

Yuksekova in Hakkari province was placed under a round-the-clock curfew on Sunday evening in preparation for a counter-terrorism operation by Turkish security forces.

• Calls for the PKK to surrender have been made by loudspeakers, the source said, as troops poured into the area.

Nusaybin, a town on the Turkey-Syria border in Mardin province, was also placed under curfew Sunday night and on Monday the governor of Sirnak, which lies between Hakkari and Mardin on Turkey’s southern border, said a curfew would begin in the provincial capital on Monday evening.

A series of anti-terrorism operations have been launched across southeast Turkey since July when the PKK renewed its armed campaign. The violence has seen at least 290 members of the security forces martyred and thousands of terrorists killed.
[aa.com.tr]
14/3/16
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