UPDATE ON PKK VIOLENCE (SEPTEMBER 24-30, 2009)

UNCLAS ANKARA 001447 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV TU IZ SUBJECT: UPDATE ON PKK VIOLENCE (SEPTEMBER 24-30, 2009) REF: ANKARA 1411 This cable is sensitive but unclassified. Please handle accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) This is another in a series of weekly reports on PKK violence in Turkey. Our primary source is the Turkish General Staff (TGS) website, which documents contacts and clashes with the PKK, as well as casualties incurred. ¶2. (U) During the September 24-30 period, no security personnel were killed or injured. The total number of security force casualties for the year through September 30, was 51 killed and 84 injured. ¶3. (U) During the same period, one PKK militant was killed in clashes in Bitlis province on September 27. Seven PKKers were captured in Mus, Ignir, Bitlis, Sanliurfa, Hakkari and Diyarbakir provinces from September 25 to 29. One PKK militant surrendered in Sirnak province on September 30. According to official TGS website figures, through September 4, the number of PKK militants killed this year was 40, the number of those captured was 55, and the number of those who surrendered was 96. ¶4. (U) During the reporting period one civilian was killed and another was injured when they stepped on a PKK IED in Sirnak province on September 27. The total number of civilian casualties for the year through the end of the fourth week of September, was 14 killed and 24 wounded. JEFFREY