A rocket has damaged a Turkish customs vehicle near the border with Iran on Monday, killing at least one customs agent and injuring others, Turkish officials have reported.
In a tweet, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu wrote that the attack took place at 8:50 am local time, and targeted a Customs Directorate vehicle. Soylu confirmed that customs personnel were injured, and indicated that the unidentified attackers were “followed and cornered.”
Later, Turkish Trade Minister Rushar Pekan told reporters that one customs agent was killed in the attack.
Musa Isin, governor of the eastern Agri province, said the vehicle was hit while on the move on a road about 3 km from the Gurbulak border checkpoint with Iran. After being struck, the vehicle drove off the road. Security services and ambulances were sent to the area.
Turkish television channel TRT reported that three attackers had been neutralized, with the military said to have deployed 2 ATAK helicopters to conduct search operations. The outlet also reported that one soldier was seriously injured by an IED said to have been placed by the attackers and taken to hospital.
#Turkey | A vehicle belonging to the customs office was targeted in a rocket attack Monday morning in Turkey’s northeastern Ağrı province, close to the Gurbulak border gate to #Iran.#PKK #PJAK
— Mete Sohtaoğlu (@metesohtaoglu) March 2, 2020
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Officials have yet to confirm who may have been responsible. The PKK, a guerilla group carrying out low intensity warfare against the Turkish government, is known to be active in the region, but far less so than in areas of the country bordering northeastern Syria and northern Iraq. Turkey considers the PKK to be a terrorist group, and has waged a war against the militants since the mid-1980s. On the Iranian side of the border is the Iranian province of West Azerbaijan, where the PDKI, an Iranian Kurdish militant group, is known to be active. Iran similarly classifies the militants as terrorists, and has been fighting the group since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Turkey closed its borders with Iran in February in connection with the COVID-19 outbreak, which has hit Iran harder than any other country apart from China, South Korea and Italy. As of Monday morning, the country has 978 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, with 54 people succumbing to the virus. Turkey has yet to report any cases.
