Heavy blow on PKK in southeast Turkey

Turkish forces have inflicted a heavy blow on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists in the southeastern province of Şırnak during the purge operation.

As many as 155 roadblocks were removed, 124 handmade explosives detonated and 567 houses were searched during the operation in which over 100 terrorists were killed.

Eighty-eight of the total 124 handmade explosives were in Silopi, while the remaining 36 were in Cizre.

In the Başak, Nuh, Cudi and Yenişehir neighborhoods of Silopi, 10 rocket heads, nine shotguns, three Kalashnikov rifles, 941 cartridges, 24 magazines, medical equipment and organizational documents were seized.

Also, 3.5 tons of ammonium nitrate was found during the search.

A huge crack team of 10,000 soldiers and security personnel were involved in the sweeping operation.

Security measures in eastern Turkey were ramped up to prevent any attacks targeting civilians in the regions where curfews were declared and operations conducted against the PKK.

Thousands of residents in eastern Turkey have left their homes as the PKK has been threatening the security of civilians by attacking mosques and schools and terrorizing the region.

The PKK is an armed militant group that has been carrying out terror attacks mostly in southeastern Turkey since the early 1980s. The group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, NATO, the U.S. and EU.