12 PKK terrorists neutralized in Yüksekova

Twelve Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists were neutralized while they were preparing to attack the military forces, during the ongoing encounter in the town of Yüksekova, Hakkari, the military's headquarters said in a statement.

The PKK terrorist group has been killed in a joint operation, conducted by Turkey's air and ground forces, the statement said.

Turkey's encounter with the PKK threat is continuing in full swing in the southeastern Hakkari province. Military sources said a total of 323 terrorists have been neutralized across the province from the very beginning of the sweep.

According to the military's statement, a local resident in Lice town, Diyarbakır, was taken for allegedly aiding the separatist organization. Security forces have also confiscated a huge amount of drugs including 600,000 cannabis, widely known as marijuana, during the operation which took place in Lice. So far, 1.4 million cannabis roots in total have been destroyed by the military, backed by police forces.

There have been reports that an unarmed PKK terrorist surrendered to security forces in the town of Pervani, in Siirt province in the southeast.

Turkey, its partners in the West and the U.S. consider the PKK as a terrorist organization.

The Turkish military began hitting PKK camps in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq on July 24, after two police officers were found dead in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa. The PKK claimed responsibility for the slayings, which were in reprisal for a suicide bombing which left more than 30 people dead in Suruç town. They called off a ceasefire that had held since 2013 and resumed attacks.

Violence escalated sharply after the attack in Suruç, which was blamed on Daesh. Since the summer of 2015, the PKK has been blocking roads, setting fire to vehicles and attacking state-run construction projects in the predominantly-Kurdish region. In response to the PKK attacks, the authorities have imposed curfews on many towns and villages in the southeast to remove terrorist elements.