Separate PKK attacks leave six Turkish soldiers dead

At least six Turkish soldiers have lost their lives when members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) launched two separate attacks against government forces in the southeastern provinces of Hakkari and Mardin.

According to the reports, security sources, requesting anonymity, said PKK militants detonated a roadside bomb by remote control on Friday as army troopers were conducting a military operation near Cimenli village in Hakkari province, located 1,026 km east of the capital Ankara. Four Turkish soldiers were killed in the attack.

Less than an hour earlier, two soldiers had been killed in a clash with PKK terrorists in the Derik district of Mardin province, situated about 1,100 km east of Ankara.

The provincial governor’s office said in a statement that counter-terrorism operations against PKK militants would continue "resolutely" in the area.

The developments came only a day after PKK militants detonated a car rigged with explosives near a gendarme outpost in the town of Omerli, located some 500 km east of the capital, killing a civilian and injuring two police officers.

The civilian was reportedly a truck driver who was passing by in his vehicle.

SS