Turkey: 3 soldiers and 6 Democratic Union Party (PYD) militants killed in a clash on Syria border
Three Turkish soldiers and six militants of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), an offshoot of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), were killed during a clash on the Turkish-Syrian border, the Turkish army has said.
In a written statement released on Tuesday, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) stated that Turkish soldiers conducting patrol duty near the town of Ceylanpınar, in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, realized a group of 10 or 15 people was attempting to illegally cross over to the Turkish side from Syria late on Monday. After ignoring the warnings from troops to stop, the armed group opened fire on the soldiers and the troops on the border retaliated, the TSK said.
Soldiers Adem Döğüşgen, Berat Sağırkaya and Yiğit Şahan were heavily wounded in the resulting clash that erupted after the group opened fire on the Turkish soldiers. Döğüşgen and Sağırkaya died despite medical efforts to save them. Later on Tuesday, Şahan, who had been undergoing treatment at Şanlıurfa Harran University Hospital, died.