On 23 June, PKK militants conducted an attack in Izmir by firing rockets toward a police station in the centre of Izmir. This came as a stern reminder of the group’s activity in the region. On 16 August, 22 PKK-linked operatives were detained in Izmir. Travel in the vicinity of Turkey’s border with Iran is also at risk as exemplified by the bombing that hit police personnel in the border province of Van on 17 August.Ī PKK militant in the mountains, December 2008.Īlong with August surge of PKK activity in south-eastern Turkey, the militant group has also been trying to expand its operations in western provinces. Kurdish separatists also use roadblocks to disrupt movement in their insurgency areas.
#Sinjar insurgency drivers
Roadside bombs detonated by PKK militants periodically lead to the death of truck drivers and motorists along highways and roads in south-eastern Turkey.
However, they also pose a substantial threat to civilian operations and travel. The ongoing PKK attacks mainly target police, military and administrative personnel and buildings. Additional operations occurred throughout the month in south-eastern Turkey. Two car bombs and an improvised explosive device targeted police stations and a military convoy respectively in Elazig and Bitlis provinces. On 18 August, PKK militants conducted three coordinated attacks that left at least 14 dead and 220 injured. Turkish police search through the wreckage of a blast-damaged building in Diyarbakir, on January 14, 2016. However, there are growing signs that the Kurdish separatist movement may try to conduct operations in western and northern provinces. Since July 2015, the majority of PKK-linked attacks have been occurring in the Diyarbakir, Mardin, Siirt, Sirnak, Hakkari and Van provinces. The volume of the Kurdish group’s attacks is an additional cause for concern due to their goal of expanding operations outside of the Kurdish majority insurgency area.
Throughout the month of August, PKK insurgents have conducted dozens of assaults in south-eastern Turkey highlighting the separatist group will and capability to step-up the tempo of its operations. Turkey’s military action in Syria and the specific targeting of Kurdish militias along its southern border comes against the backdrop of an increase of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attacks within the national territory. The offensive is aimed at pushing Turkey’s southern border from Islamic State (IS) strongholds and pushing Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and People’s Protection Units (PYG) to withdraw their forces from the Manbij area and relocate east of the Euphrates.