Turkey: Wounded police officer dies after PKK attack

A Turkish police officer has died after sustaining gunshot wounds in Friday's clashes between security forces and members of the outlawed PKK in Silopi district of Turkey’s southeastern Sirnak province.

On Friday, three people were killed and seven wounded, including two police officers, in clashes in Silopi. Officer Muhammed Onur Demir died on Saturday at the district hospital.

Police launched an operation early Friday against PKK members in Baris neighborhood in Silopi, near the border with Iraq. The operation included closing ditches dug on the side streets in order to block police from entering the area, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement.

After police arrived at the scene with an armored earth digger, PKK members opened fire on officers with long-range rifles.

The ensuing clashes, which lasted four hours, resulted in the killing of three people, local sources said.

The governor’s office accused the attackers of previous misconduct, including disrupting the public order, endangering the personal and property safety of district residents, setting up barricades equipped with mines and improvised explosives, digging ditches, and attacking security forces.