“An operation was carried out with the support of the special operations police to catch the suspects whose identities and addresses were determined,” Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu Agency reported, adding that nine suspects were captured by the police.
A tenth suspect was not located at his residence and could not be found, according to Anadolu.
The People’s Defense Forces (HPG), the armed wing of the PKK, said on Thursday that two of its female members were responsible for carrying out an attack in Mersin’s Mezitli district which led to the death of one police officer and the injury of another, calling the Turkish intelligence service “weak” for failing to identify the fighters.
The PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization and targets it at home as well as southward across the border with Iraq and Syria.
Earlier in September, another anti-PKK operation in Mersin resulted in the arrest of eight suspects, according to Turkish state media.
