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Three dead, seven injured in eastern Turkey attacks

04 September 2015 18:12 (UTC +04:00)

In the first incident, a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist was killed and another was wounded in Turkey's eastern Tunceli province after an exchange of fire with security forces Friday, local authorities said.

According to a written statement from Tunceli Governor's Office, two PKK terrorists opened fire with long-barreled weapons and grenades on Sehit Nahit Bulut Police Department in Mogultay neighborhood’s Cumhuriyet Street at around 11 a.m., local time (0800 GMT).

Police responded to the attack and in the resulting exchange of fire, a terrorist was killed and another was found wounded at the entrance of the police station.

Earlier, preliminary reports had suggested that both terrorists died, but the governor’s office clarified later that one of them was still alive.

Tunceli deputy from pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Alican Onlu was seen in a local footage helping a paramedic team shift the injured terrorist to a stretcher.

The critically injured terrorist was being treated at the Tunceli State Hospital. Police cordoned off the hospital and took extra security measures around the building with armored vehicles.

In the incident, a police officer also fell martyr during the clash while a civilian was critically wounded.

A medical staff and a police officer were also slightly injured and received treatment at the hospital.

Special operations teams have also been dispatched to the area to contain the ongoing clash and a wide-scale operation was launched in Tunceli, the statement added.

Some shops in the area were also shut down after the attack.

Separately, a specialist sergeant was critically wounded in a roadside bomb attack on a security patrol in eastern Van province Friday noon, security sources said.

The patrolling Turkish soldiers were from Yesilbulak Military Guard Post of the 4th Border Battalion, the sources added.

The wounded soldier was transferred in a military helicopter to Dursun Odabasi Medical Center in Van Yuzuncu Yil University Faculty of Medicine.

Security forces launched an operation in the area to nab the attackers.

Also on Friday, a civilian was killed and two others, including a child, were wounded when PKK terrorists opened fire on a pickup truck in southeastern Sirnak province, security sources added.

The 27-year-old driver of the vehicle succumbed to his wounds while being transferred to Sirnak State Hospital. A six-year-old child and a specialist sergeant were wounded in the attack, the sources added.

Operations against the terrorist group PKK came after it renewed attacks on Turkish security forces in the aftermath of the July 20 Suruc bombing on Turkey's southern border that left 34 people dead.

Government figures show 72 security forces’ personnel have been martyred and 20 civilians have been killed since July 7 -- when a police officer was shot dead in a PKK attack -- and 965 PKK terrorists have been killed since July 22 in land and air operations in Turkey and northern Iraq.