Six Turkish soldiers and two members of the country's village guards were killed Thursday after clashes with PKK terrorists who were trying to cross into Turkey's southeastern Hakkari province from northern Iraq.
According to military sources, five PKK terrorists were killed by the security forces in Şemdinli district.
The clashes erupted while the terrorists were trying to infiltrate into the Derecik border town's rural area from Iraq.
An air-supported operation is underway in the area as clashes are ongoing, reports said.
The border outposts in located in mountainous Hakkari and Şırnak provinces are prone to large scale attacks by PKK terrorists especially during bad weather conditions when cover from the air is limited or impossible. The PKK held territory in northern Iraq lies to the south of the border and the PKK headquarters in the Qandil Mountains is located some 100 kilometers southeast.
The PKK usually avoids direct confrontation with the Turkish military since the early 2000s and applies hit-and-run attacks, but the region's proximity to PKK camps and geographical conditions allow the terrorist groups to mass its militants in a single location. Thursday's attack in Derecik was the first direct attack on Turkish soldiers by PKK in months amid efficient operations and superior firepower in the countryside. However, the terrorist group frequently targets the military and the police with bomb traps or suicide attacks, while kidnapping or murdering public servants or civilians.
The PKK conducts large attacks in the area by concentrating hundreds of militants in one location aiming to inflict more casualties on security forces and to overrun posts.
The nearby Dağlıca Outpost, Aktütün Outpost and Yeşiltaş Outpost were repeatedly targeted in such attacks, whereas Derecik itself is often targeted with harassment fire and mortar rounds across the border and surrounding area.
Founded in 1978, the PKK has waged a decades long bloody campaign against Turkey.
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, resumed its armed campaign in July 2015 after a brief reconciliation period.
Since that time, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of some 1,200 security personnel and civilians, including women and children, while more than 4,000 security personnel and over 2,000 civilians have been injured.
More than 12,000 PKK terrorists were also killed in the same period.
