Turkish security officials said Monday that their forces had killed a leading member of the radical Muslim group Hizbollah in a shootout in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, reported AFP.
The agency cited the security authorities as saying the shootout took place on Sunday in the province's Cinar town during a crackdown against the Hizbollah, the Diyarbakir-based emergency rule headquarters said in a statement, carried by the Anatolia news agency.
The victim was identified as a leading member of the military wing of the Hizbollah but no further details were given, said the agency.
An accusing finger was pointed at Hizbollah for slaying the police chief of Diyarbakir, Gaffar Okkan and five other police officers. The chief was a hated figure to the Islamist group.
Okkan had cracked down on the group many times and had received letters of threats from the group.
According to Anatolia news agency, Okkan had carried out successful operations against Hizbollah and “gained people's trust and appreciation.”
In an interview published with the mass-circulation Sabah daily, given only hours before his death, Okkan said that police had identified 26 Hizbollah hitmen.
Last year, the authorities unearthed the bodies of 68 people in shallow graves across Turkey, believed to have been kidnapped and killed by the radical group, whose leader Huseyin Velioglu was shot dead by the police a year ago.
The group has no links with the Lebanese Hizbollah – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
