Qandil Region still in Turmoil

Eight soldiers and one village guard died in the township of Çukurca (south-eastern province of Hakkari) during the aerial strikes that were started on 17 August by the Turkish Armed Forces against the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Armed conflicts between the TSK and the PKK that followed the air raids claimed more casualties. Six soldiers, one teacher and two village guards died; a total of 17 soldiers and policemen were wounded.

Nine civilians died

On 22 August in Qandil, a mountainous area in northern Iraq where many PKK hideouts are located, a family of seven was killed in an air strike: Huseyin Mustafa, Hacı Mam Kak, Vêzan Huseyin, Zana Huseyın, Sonya Şemal, Solin Şamal and Xunav Huzeyr.

On 23 August, Non-commissioned OfficerAhmet Yumak was killed in a raid at a military check point in the village of Değirmendere (Ergani/Diyarbakır). Rocket projectors and rifles were used in the attack. Four soldiers were injured.

On 28 August, Privates Mehmet Topraksürer, Abdülkerim Erdoğan and Gendarmerie Private Murat Başçı were killed by an explosion of a PKK bomb in the region of Övenç (Şemdinli/Hakkari) when a military convoy passed by. Two soldiers were wounded.

On 31 August, taxi driver İbrahim Ergil was abducted by members of the PKK while he was having a picnic along the Aksu stream (Ovacık/Tunceli). He was found dead later on.

On 3 September, Second Lieutenant Bahadır Fuat Buharalıoğlu and Special Sergeant Bekir Erciyes were killed in a gunfight with the PKK at the Geyiksu Gendarmerie Battalion Command (Çığla/Dersim).

Also on 3 September, three soldiers were injured by unidentified individuals who started shooting during a change of guard in the township of Tatvan (Bitlis).

On 4 September, village guards Seyhan Çoruh and Resul Çoruh died in an armed conflict in the Yeşiltaş area (Yüksekova/Hakkari).

On 5 September, Chief Inspector Cem Kerman and his wife, teacher Dilay Kerman, were killed in an armed assault by PKK members on policemen who were playing football on a football field in the Munzur district in the city centre of Dersim. Eight police officers were injured, three of them severely. PKK member Kavus Dellaimilan died.

In a statement made by the TSK on 29 August, it was said that 145 to 160 PKK members were killed in the course of the Qandil aerial strikes. The People's Defence Forces (HPG), an armed wing of the PKK, announced on 23 August that three of their members died. (NV/VK)