Türkiye’s southeastern Gaziantep province is healing from the PKK/YPG terrorist group's rocket attack that left at least two dead and six wounded on Monday.
The attack took place in the Karkamış district of Gaziantep. At the Kocatepe Elementary School where the 22-year-old teacher Ayşegül Alkan was killed during the strikes, municipal crews were seen cleaning up the rubble and sweeping broken glass shards and debris out of the school building.
Authorities are also repairing the electrical infrastructure that was damaged by mortar bombs.
Treating the wounded
The pressure from the explosions during the attack battered dozens of homes and workplaces in the district.
Nineteen people in total who were injured by shrapnel were taken to hospitals in the central Gaziantep, Nizip and Karkamış districts. Fifteen of them were later discharged, but the other four are still being treated, with one in critical condition, the authorities said.
Bidding farewell to the dead
The city also laid to rest the 5-year-old boy who was killed in the rocket attack. Hasan Karataş lost his life when a mortar shell fired by the terrorist group struck his house in the Karkamış district center.
His family and relatives, Gaziantep Governor Davut Gül, Mayor Fatma Şahin and lawmakers attended Karataş’s funeral early on Tuesday.
The PKK and its Syrian offshoot YPG have been targeting residential areas in Türkiye’s southeast throughout Sunday and Monday following Operation Claw-Sword Ankara launched against terrorist elements just beyond its border in northern Iraq and Syria.
The group has illegal hideouts in the region, which is partly controlled by the opposition forces and partially controlled by terrorists, where they plan and mount attacks against Türkiye.
The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S. and the EU, along with Türkiye.
It has been waging a bloody terrorist campaign against Türkiye for four decades, attacking both security personnel and civilians. It has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people since 1984.