66 PKK militants 'neutralized' in one week: Turkish Interior Ministry

A total of 66 militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been "neutralized" in security operations in one week, the Turkish Interior Ministry announced on April 24. 

According to the ministry, 53 militants were killed, eight surrendered and five were captured alive in some 321 ground and air operations carried out between April 17 and 24. 

Authorities use the word "neutralized" to refer to militants who are killed, wounded or captured.        

Some 29 militants were killed in Bestler-Dereler district of the southeastern province of Şırnak, 11 were killed in the province's Uludere district, six in the Amanoslar district in the southern province of Osmaniye, one in the Suruç district of the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, one in the eastern province of Bitlis, three in the Çukurca and Yüksekova districts of the southeastern province of Hakkari and two in the Kulp district of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. 

According to the ministry, eight militants surrendered in Şırnak's Silopi district and five were captured elsewhere in Şırnak, the southern province of Muğla, the eastern province of Erzurum and the southern province of Hatay. 

The ministry said a total of 185 people were detained for allegedly providing aid to the PKK, adding that some 63 shelters belonging to the outlawed group were destroyed in nine provinces. 

Moreover, some 30 hand-made explosives were destroyed and two tons of material used in making explosives, 65 hand grenades, 77 weapons, of which 70 were heavy and long-barreled, were confiscated in the operations. 

In addition, 47 people were detained over alleged links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as part of struggle against foreign...