(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) A total of 500 soldiers from the Turkish Special Forces Command, known as the Maroon Berets, have been deployed to the Amanos Mountains in Turkey’s southeastern Hatay province in order to apprehend two militants from the outlawedKurdistan Workers’ Party(PKK).
The soldiers are trying to apprehend the field commander of the PKK, Seyithan Sinet, and his aide, brahim engül, who are leading a group of 70 to 80PKKmilitants, daily Sabah reported on May 17.
The 42-year-old Sinet and engül, whose codenames are Vedat and Bedrettin, respectively, are sought by the Interior Ministry under the green wanted category with up to a million-Turkish Lira reward for those who can provide information leading to the apprehension of the pair.
Eight maroon beret teams were sent to the mountains, where a captain who fell from a rocky area died on May 9, by the General Staff’s Special Forces Command, while an operation was launched with the support of Gendarmerie Special Operations, Gendarmerie Commando and Police Special Forces teams.
Some 80 militants based in the mountains, which thePKKreportedly uses to cross the border, were followed and encircled by the maroon berets.
Ammunition belonging to thePKKwas also found in land search efforts on the mountain, reported Doan News Agency.
Meanwhile, some 600 kilograms of homemade explosives, supplies to prepare them and 580 pieces of ammunition were seized in operations against thePKKin the Güroymak district of the southeastern province of Bitlis. The soldiers discovered the explosives and ammunition buried underground, according to a statement released by the Bitlis Governor’s Office on May 16.
In another incident, nine soldiers were wounded in two separate attacks byPKKmilitants in the Nusaybin district of the southeastern province of Mardin on May 17.
The militants launched an attack with rocket launchers against an armored military vehicle in the Yeniehir neighborhood, injuring three security officers. The wounded soldiers were taken to Nusaybin State Hospital.
A second attack was carried out in the Abdülkadirpaa neighborhood, wherePKKmilitants detonated a homemade bomb while security officers were passing through the area. Six officers, including soldiers and police officers, were wounded and taken to Nusaybin State Hospital.
One of the wounded soldiers will be taken to Gülhane Military Medical Academy (GATA) in Ankara, according to Doan News Agency.
A curfew has been in force in Nusaybin since March 14.