Fresh attacks in Turkey kill soldiers, a policeman and a civilian: Reports

Fresh attacks have gripped southeastern Turkey, with one officer, three soldiers and a civilian reportedly killed in two incidents.

In the first incident, which happened late on Wednesday, a gunman killed a policeman and a civilian in front of a tea house in the Cinar district in the Kurdish-majority Diyarbakir region, the Anatolia and Dogan news agencies reported. A second civilian was also wounded. 

Turkish media has blamed the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for the killings, although the PKK has yet to take responsibility.

On Thursday morning, in a subsequent attack, one officer and two soldiers were killed in the southern Sirnak province, CNN Turk reported.

"As a result of an attack by the separatist terror organisation, three of our brave personnel - one officer, one non-commissioned officer and one private - were killed," said the army, using its customary phrase for the PKK which it never refers to by name.

The army said that the military convoy was ambushed by PKK members while it was carrying out a security operation in the Akcay district of Sirnak, which borders both Syria and Iraq. 

"Drones, helicopter gunships and commando units have been dispatched to the scene," the statement added while stressing that one "terrorist" had been killed in the clashes. Operations are continuing, the army said. 

At least 11 police and army members have been killed since last week.

The killings are the latest in a spike in violence and unrest that comes as Turkey steps up its bombing campaign against targets of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria and the PKK in northern Iraq.

On Thursday, reports emerged that almost 200 people were killed in two major airstrikes on alleged PKK positions, intelligence sources told the daily Hurriyet. 

According to the sources, 190 alleged PKK members were killed and 300 others injured on Friday 24 July, the first day that Turkey announced its military operations against the group.

The allegations could not be independently verified and the PKK has not released any casualty figures. 

The PKK has largely observed a ceasefire agreed with Ankara in 2013. Since last Friday, however, the situation has deteriorated markedly with the PKK claiming responsibility for the killing of three police officers. The armed group said that it carried out the attack in response to Anakara’s perceived inaction, and what Kurdish groups claim is complicity, over a suicide bombing that killed 32 pro-Kurdish activists in Suruc on 20 July.

Turkey has repeatedly denied those allegations and has blamed the attack on IS.

“I do not accept accusations against our government, who designated the Daesh [the Arabic acronym of IS] as a terror organisation. A Western country could act differently, but we have different conditions. I condemn describing our government as side by side with IS," said Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arınc on Tuesday. 

According to Arinc, 1,061 people have now been arrested as part of security operations aimed at alleged IS and PKK supporters.