Turkish Forces Kill 2 PKK Militants Plotting Bomb Attack in Country's East

Turkish security forces reportedly killed two militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and destroyed their bomb-laden vehicle.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkish security forces killed two militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and destroyed their bomb-laden vehicle in the Gurpinar district of eastern Van province, local media reported on Monday citing local authorities.

According to Daily Sabah newspaper, the security forces carried out the operation after getting the intelligence information stating that the PKK militants were planning to carry out a bomb attack in the city center.

Earlier in the day, local media reported that Turkish security forces had killed 17 PKK fighters and captured 10 more over the past week in a number of counter-terrorism operations across the country.

Tensions between Ankara and the Kurdish pro-independence PKK escalated in 2015, after a ceasefire between the two sides collapsed over a series of terror attacks allegedly committed by PKK members. The Turkish forces are currently involved in anti-PKK raids across the country, as well as against Kurdish positions in neighboring Syria and Iraq.