29-03-2024 07:28 AM Jerusalem Timing

Turkey: Clashes between Kurdish Militants, Security Forces Kill Three

Turkey: Clashes between Kurdish Militants, Security Forces Kill Three

Three people, including a child, were killed in clashes between Kurdish militants and security forces in Turkey’s restive Kurdish-majority southeast on Thursday, officials said.

Three people, including a child, were killed in clashes between Kurdish militants and security forces in Turkey's restive Kurdish-majority southeast on Thursday, officials said.

Fighting erupted in the Cizre district of Sirnak province when Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels attacked a military outpost with rocket launchers, a security source told AFP.

Three Kurds, one of them a seven-year-old boy, died of gunshot wounds in hospital, the source said, adding that seven others, including three Turkish soldiers, were also wounded in the fighting.

Turkish policemenHeavy fighting was also raging between the army and PKK militants in the Yuksekova district of Hakkari province, where authorities imposed a curfew late Wednesday.

Pro-Kurdish media reported that several civilians had been killed, but the reports could not be independently verified.

Ankara is currently waging a two-pronged offensive against Takfiri group, ISIL (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant), in Syria, and against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in northern Iraq and southeast Turkey.

Earlier, Turkey has been reluctant to step up fight against ISIL. Mediareports repeatedly said that Ankara has been aiding ISIL terrorists against the Kurdish fighters and against the Syrian government.

However, deadly attacks blamed on ISIL recently rocked Turkey, prompting Ankara to allegedly step the fight against the Takfri group.

But, so far, the air strikes have overwhelmingly concentrated on the separatist Kurdish rebels.