PKK tries to lay Quran IED death traps

MARDIN

Security forces found the handmade explosive on Wednesday, wrapped up in a package containing pages from the holy Quran in a house abandoned by PKK terrorists in Nusaybin in the southeastern Mardin province.

The handmade explosive hidden under the pages was laid as a trap for security forces, who were meant to remove the pages as a sign of respect, and then the explosive would go off. But they didn’t fall for it.

They also found another prayer book on the stove with explosives placed inside. Both explosives were defused, said security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the press.

As counter-terrorism operations continue, so far during the Nusaybin operation, 674 improvised explosives have been neutralized, and 305 terrorists have been neutralized and 203 barricades removed in Nusaybin, said the Mardin Governorship in a statement.

A joint counterterrorism operation between the Turkish Armed Forces and local police forces aims to capture PKK terrorists, dispose of planted explosives, fill in ditches, and remove barricades, following the declaration of a curfew in the southeast on March 14.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU, resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, around 300 members of the security forces have been martyred, and thousands of PKK terrorists have been killed in operations in Turkey and northern Iraq.