The Turkish General Staff announced that 373 militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had died as a consequence of military operations during the past six months, while 88 troops had also lost their lives in the last nine months, 54 of them being professional military personnel.

The General Staff said the announcement was a response to claims that appeared in the media which suggested that the losses were due to inadequate intelligence, unpreparedness, late arrival of reinforcements in outposts that came under attack and lack of sufficient military training.

Such claims lead to the misinformation of the public, the military's announcement said.

Allegations that the troops who lost their lives were mainly draftees with limited training are untrue, as 54 of the 88 troops who died as of Sept. 6, 2012 were professionals, according to the General Staff.

Battalion sized forces conducted some 400 operations in Hakkari, 328 operations in Şırnak, 114 in Siirt and 132 in Tunceli in the country's southeast between April 1 and Sept. 1, 2012, the announcement said, adding that a total of 373 PKK militants had lost their lives and 14 had surrendered between Feb. 14 and Aug. 2012, excluding the fate of militants located abroad.

The General Staff also said they had struck 14 PKK targets and killed 25 militants in air raids over north Iraq between Sept. 5 and 9. (NV)