Turkish security forces have killed 25 Kurdish militants this week as they battle suspected members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) inside two flashpoint towns, security sources said on Thursday. The operations conducted inside the towns of Cizre and Silopi in the southeastern Sirnak province, backed by curfews, mark a new escalation in five months of fighting with the PKK since a truce collapsed. Twenty-four PKK members have been killed in Cizre since the operations began earlier this week, while one was killed in Silopi, security sources told AFP, increasing an earlier toll.
The authorities had already announced on Wednesday that eight PKK fighters had been killed in Cizre. According to Turkish media, some 10,000 members of the police and army have been deployed in Cizre and Silopi in one of the biggest operations yet against the PKK, who have erected barricades and ditches inside the towns. Analysts have called for peace talks, the authorities led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have said Ankara must “eradicate” the PKK which in recent months has again built up presence in urban centres.
“The terrorists wanted to paralyse daily life in these towns by intimidating inhabitants who they had extorted,” Interior Minister Efkan Ala said.