Yesterday (29 October) four soldiers died during operations in the Southeast, and one lieutenant was injured during a land mine search.

Operations in Sirnak 

According to Sabah newspaper and CNN Türk, sergeants Ilyas Karadavut and Ercan Cicek, as well as another soldier, so far unidentified, died in a battle which started at the Cudi Mountain in Sirnak province, in the Southeast of Turkey and near the Northern Iraqi border.

According to CNN Türk, the military encountered PKK militants in the Cudi and Gabar mountain areas and called on them to give themselves up. When the PKK fired in response, a battle ensued.

CNN Türk said that operations continued at the Cudi and Gabar Mountains in Sirnak yesterday night, and that military convoys were moving towards the Northern Iraqi border to prepare for possible cross-border operations.

Military equipment and soldiers brought to Nusaybin in the southeastern province of Mardin (bordering Syria) were taken to the Cizre district of Sirnak, bordering Northern Iraq, yesterday evening. The convoy was heavily guarded.
 

Operations in Tunceli 
 

 Meanwhile, Sergeant Ali Riza Altin died in a land mine explosion during operations in the rural part of Pülümür district in Tunceli, in eastern Turkey.

The road from Pülümür district in Tunceli province leading to Erzincan and Erzurum, which had been closed for two days as part of the operations in the area was yesterday evening reopened for civilian traffic, albeit heavily controlled.

The Radikal newspaper has quoted the number of killed PKK militants in the area as 17.

A PKK shelter was found in the Pervari district of Siirt province. The shelter was destroyed by explosives expert lieutenant Mehmet Bedri Aluclu, but he was seriously injured in the process. (NZ/AG)