Security forces screened 6,210 vehicles and 15,595 people in the operation area and detained 59 suspects.[1] Three of the 59 detainees were remanded on charges of drug trafficking and providing premises for it.[1] A detained shepherd told security forces that PKK members threatened to kill those who refused orders and forced them to stand guard over drug-planted fields.[1] The shepherd said he had not consented, that dozens of his animals had been seized, and that many others were forced at gunpoint to camp near the fields, stand guard and control and irrigate the plots.[1]
In the operation’s first three days, security forces uprooted and then destroyed 6,438,000 Indian hemp plants found across hundreds of plots.[1] On newly identified plots, teams later found about 2,700,000 more Indian hemp plants and 373 kilograms of powdered cannabis buried underground.[1] Village guards, known as korucular, supported the detection and destruction work while searches for newly planted areas continued.[1]
The continuing Bayrak-14 joint operation in Lice and surrounding areas was conducted with 24 battalions under the command of the Diyarbakır 7th Corps Command.[1] Its stated aims were to neutralize militants, said to include senior leaders, in mountainous and forested areas, to destroy cannabis cultivation areas described as the organization’s funding source, and to demolish shelters and depots.[1] The account said the operations aimed to dry up what it described as the PKK’s biggest financial source.[1] Forces also destroyed shelters and improvised explosives found in the area and seized weapons including a rocket launcher, ammunition and organizational documents.[1]
