7 PKK terrorists killed in the southeastern town under curfew: governor

Security forces killed at least seven terrorists from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in clashes, which erupted late Monday during security operations in the Derik district of the southeastern province of Mardin, a town that has been under curfew for four days.

The curfew was imposed as of 2 pm on November 27 in Derik as part of the measures to prevent increasing terrorist activities.

Operations began to fill in ditches dug on the district's roads by PKK, remove barricades, and neutralize terrorists hiding in the tense district, according to the local administration. Mardin governor's office said that seven PKK terrorists were neutralized while one Turkish soldier was killed and another injured in the operations, which began at 6 pm on Monday.

The injured soldier is still under medical treatment in a hospital where was immediately taken after the incident. The soldier, slained in the clashes, was named as Sezer Aydemir, a specialist sergeant.

According to local authorities, the operations were intended to restore peace and security, ensure safety of life and property of citizens and protect their rights and freedom, and to seize members of the separatist organization who are wanted on several charges. The operations are still underway in Derik.

Meanwhile, clashes and explosions have been heard constantly in the district's four remate areas where the curfew is still in effect. The curfew, imposed as of 9 pm on Sunday, is still in force in the neighborhoods of Abdulkadirpaşa, Fırat, Yenişehir and Dicle.

The Turkish military began hitting PKK targets in the southeast and northern Iraq on July 24 after two police officers were found dead in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa in an attack launched by the PKK, apparently in reprisal for a suicide bombing which left more than 30 people dead in Suruç town.

Violence escalated sharply after the attack in Suruç, which was blamed on the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Since then, the PKK has been blocking roads, setting fire to vehicles and attacking state-run construction projects in the predominantly-Kurdish region.