According to a new statement from the Turkish military,, they have killed 11 PKK fighters in southern Turkey today, including four in Mardin, and seven in the Sirnak Province. They offered no further details on the incident, and didn’t report any casualties on their side.
This is the latest in a series of incidents in this area of Turkey since the ceasefire with the PKK was scrapped last summer. President Erdogan recently claimed that over 5,000 PKK have been killed since the end of the ceasefire.
The Turkish military has also announced it is extending its curfews into the district of Lice, in the large Kurdish city of Diyarbakir. The 24-7 military curfews have proven a humanitarian nightmare, with snipers shooting anybody on the streets at any time as “terrorists,” fueling growing criticism from human rights groups.
It is interesting to note that the district being targeted in the curfew isn’t the reported site of any of the clashes, leaving open the question of what the pretext for the declaration was. Usually curfews come after significant rounds of fighting in any area, which the military claims makes them security measures but which locals see as punitive.