LICE, Turkey, Aug. 18 (UPI) — One Turkish soldier was killed and four others wounded during battles with PKK rebels in southeastern Turkey, according to officials.
Xinhua news agency, quoting a Turkish military statement, reports the clashes occurred in the town of Lice, in the Diyarbakir province, and lasted Monday night into Tuesday.
Turkey’s armed forces have been involved in renewed battles against militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, after an Islamic State-linked suicide bombing last month killed 27 people and wounded more than 100 in Suruc, Turkey.
The attack brought Turkey into the international coalition bombing IS forces in Iraq and Syria, but the Ankara government also directed airstrikes, mass arrests and ground operations against the PKK, which it considers a terrorist organization.
A 2013 PKK cease-fire agreement with the Turkish government fell apart in July after the group reportedly claimed responsibility for killing two police officers in city of Gaziantep, in southeastern Turkey.
August 11 airstrikes hit at least 17 PKK positions in the Hakkari province, near Turkey’s border with Iraq and Iran, and the Ankara government has blamed the PKK for recent suicide attacks against security personnel, as well as the sabotage of a natural gas pipeline running from Iran to Turkey.
A statement from the Turkish prime minister’s office said security forces have detained more than 1,300 people with suspected ties to IS, the PKK and leftist groups.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in late July said it was “impossible” to continue the peace process with the PKK.
“Turkey has the strength to hold terrorists and so-called politicians accountable for the blood of our martyrs,” Erdogan said. “Stepping back is out of the question.”
The PKK formed in the 1970s under Marxist and Leninist principles. More than 40,000 people are estimated to have been killed in PKK-related violence since the 1980s, when the Kurdish rebels began fighting the Turkish government for more autonomy.
Both the PKK and Turkey have accused each other of collaborating with IS forces.
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