Turkish Security Forces Kill Nine PKK Militants in Southeast of Country

Turkish security forces killed nine members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in the country's southeast.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — Nine militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been killed in a counter-terrorist operation in the country's southeast in the past 24 hours, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement Sunday.

"Three terrorists were killed and two were captured in Cizre. Bodies of 31 terrorist group members killed earlier were found during search of houses. Six terrorists were killed in Sura," the statement read.

Turkey's Interior Minister Efkan Ala said Thursday that Turkish security forces had finalized the anti-terrorist operation in the mainly Kurdish town of Cizre.

According to the Turkish General Staff, over 900 Kurdish militants have been killed in counter-terrorism operations since mid-December. Kurdish activists, in turn, argue that most of the dead were civilian victims.

The security situation in Turkey deteriorated in mid-2015, when two Turkish policemen were killed by the PKK, which led Ankara to launch a military campaign against the group.