7 Turkish security personnel, including two pilots, were killed in a helicopter reconnaissance plane crash after it crashed into a mountain yesterday evening in the southeastern province of Van.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu said - in televised remarks - that the plane was on a mission to explore and monitor the states of Wan Hakkari in eastern Turkey, since last Monday, noting that the plane had tumbled on a mountain from a height of 670 meters.
NTV reported that investigators were working to find out the cause of the accident.
The television channel quoted Souilo as saying that the last contact with the plane was at 10:32 pm on Wednesday (19:32 GMT), and then it disappeared from radar screens after 13 minutes.
In a related context, the Turkish Interior Ministry said that two policemen were killed at dawn today, Thursday, after they were seriously wounded during an operation against terrorist elements in the state of Sirad, in the southeast of the country.
The ministry added - in an official statement - that 4 of the Special Operations Forces of the Gendarmerie Command in Sa`rd were wounded during a confrontation with terrorist elements in the village of "Dogan" in the town of Bravari in the state, and two of them died later from their wounds.
The Turkish security forces and army have been targeting the PKK positions and pursuing its members inside the country and northern Iraq.
This comes in response to terrorist attacks carried out by the separatist organization inside Turkey from time to time, targeting civilians, security personnel and the army.