An army captain was killed when militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attacked a military outpost in southeastern Turkey late Aug. 21.

PKK militants targeted a gendarmerie outpost in the Beytüşşebap district of the Şırnak province at 9.30 p.m. Captain Ali Alkan and two more soldiers were wounded in the clash that continued for an hour, Turkish media reports said.

Captain Alkan died at the Şırnak Military Hospital at 2.00 a.m. on Aug. 22, as the army launched an operation to find the perpetrators who fled the area after the attack.

Before Alkan’s death, 55 Turkish security personnel were killed in terrorist attacks across Turkey over the past month, while the security forces have killed 771 militants from the PKK in operations within the country and in northern Iraq, according to official figures.

Meanwhile, suspected members of the PKK threw two bombs outside the regional headquarters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir.

The attack severely damaged a police water cannon truck parked outside, injuring a policeman who was inside, the official Anatolia news agency reported.

10 customs officials and a driver were reported missing in the Van region of eastern Turkey close to the border with Iran, state-run Anadolu Agency reported, saying it was possible they had been abducted by the PKK.

The PKK has been staging daily attacks against the Turkish armed forces as the military keeps up air raids and military operations against its strongholds in southeast Turkey as well as northern Iraq.

Over 50 members of the Turkish security forces have been killed in attacks blamed on the PKK but the government has vowed to maintain its campaign against the group.
August/22/2015