A young man, Y.A. has been seriously wounded by exploding military ordnance in Hêvrês, a village in southeast Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish province of Bitlis, Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) reported on Monday.
The 18-year-old took his sheep to graze on Sunday evening, when he was seriously wounded as a result of an explosion of military ammunition, wrote Mezopotamya Agency.
The news organisation did not specify the cause of the explosion. However, mines, unexploded shells and other military ordnance litter the region, where the Turkish military has used heavy weapons in its fight against militants from groups it defines as terrorist organisations such as the PKK.
Y.A. was first taken to Bitlis Public Hospital by paramedics, and then transferred to Şanlıurfa (Riha) Hospital.
The young man’s right arm was severed at the wrist and he is in danger of losing an eye. He remains in critical condition with life-threatening injuries.
Medya News reported in July of another victim of exploding military ordnance, 12-year-old H.E., who was also seriously wounded on 26 July in a blast in the Kurdish-majority district Başkale (Elbak) of the western Van (Wan) province.