Newsletter Newsletters Events Events Podcasts Videos Africanews
Loader
Advertisement

Turkish police officer killed in suspected Kurdish militant attack

The attack occurred on Monday in the coastal province of Mersin.
The attack occurred on Monday in the coastal province of Mersin. Copyright  Anadolu
Copyright Anadolu
By AP with Euronews
Published on
Share this article Comments
Share this article Close Button

Two women are believed to have opened fire on Turkish police before detonating explosive devices.

ADVERTISEMENT

One Turkish police officer was killed and two other people were wounded in a suspected Kurdish militant attack.

Two suspected female militants opened fire on police in southern Turkey late on Monday, Ankara said.

The perpetrators --- reportedly affiliated with the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) -- later killed themselves by detonating suicide bombs.

The attack occurred in the Mezitli district in the Mediterranean coastal province of Mersin, Turkey's interior ministry said.

The two suspects fired on police guarding a hotel for security officers prompting a gunfight, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters.

One officer was killed, while a second police officer and a civilian on a nearby balcony were injured in the clashes.

The PKK is considered a terrorist organisation in Turkey, Europe and the United States.

It led an armed insurgency against Ankara in 1984 and tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict. A fragile cease-fire and peace talks between the Turkish state and the PKK collapsed in the summer of 2015.

Go to accessibility shortcuts
Share this article Comments

Read more

Turkish committee begins work on PKK peace deal in step towards end of decades-long insurgency

Kurdish militant group PKK announces disbandment and end of Turkey insurgency

Turkey's Erdoğan meets pro-Kurdish MPs as they seek to end 40-year insurgency