DIYARBAKIR: Turkey yesterday imposed curfews in dozens of villages and towns in Diyarbakir province in the Kurdish-majority southeast, in anticipation of a new operation against Kurdish militants inside the country, reports AFP.

The Diyarbakir governor’s office said a total of 176 curfews had been imposed in the province, where the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is known to be active.

“A curfew is in place from Wednesday 0800 (0500 GMT) until a second announcement is made” in the villages and towns in the districts of Silvan, Kulp, Lice and Hazro, it said in a statement.

It said the curfews will allow security forces to “neutralise” members and collaborators of the “separatist terrorist organisation”—Turkey’s official term for the PKK.

The PKK has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 but fighting has intensified in the region since the collapse of a two-year ceasefire in 2015.