12 People Killed in 4 Days

One soldier and two village guards were killed in an armed conflict between members of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the police and village guards in Van. Two village guards were wounded.

The clash occurred on Wednesday evening (21 September) at 8.00 pm in the Melkuşan Yaylası Körüklü Valley. The valley is 20 kilometres off the centre of the Çatak township in the Kurdish-majority province in south-eastern Turkey. The injured persons were taken to the Van Military Hospital.

Policeman killed in Diyarbakır

One police officer was killed in the course of an armed attack on the police in Diyarbakır, as reported on Thursday (22 September). Three people were wounded, one of whom was a policeman.

A police team patrolling in the Mardinkapı district of Sur came under fire with long-barrelled guns. Four people were wounded in the attack, including two policemen. One of the wounded police officers died on the way to the hospital. The other injured were brought to the Dicle University Medical Faculty Research Hospital.

Mustafa Toprak, Governor of Diyarbakır, announced, "An operation to arrest the attackers with the assistance of identikit pictures had been launched".

Within the past four days a total of twelve people died in armed conflicts: seven civilians, one police officer, one police students, one soldier and two village guards. Seven of the victims were men, five were women. A total of 45 people were injured. (NV/AS/VK)