Seven members of the Turkish security forces were killed when a Turkish Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft crashed in the eastern province of Van, the state-owned Anadolu news agency reported, citing Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.

Soylu clarified that the plane crashed in a mountainous area at an altitude of 670 meters. The victims include the two pilots, he added, according to Anadolu Agency.

Air crash investigators are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the crash, according to NTV.

According to the same television network, which also referred to Soylu, the last contact with the aircraft took place at 22:32 (local time and Greek time) yesterday. The aircraft disappeared from radar 13 minutes later.

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The governor of Van province paid tribute, via Twitter, to the seven “heroes” and expressed his condolences to their families.

Two Turkish pilots were killed in 2018 when a military plane crashed during an exercise in Izmir province (west).

The mountainous, isolated province of Van, on the border with Iran, was hit by two avalanches in February killing 41 people.

Turkish security forces are often involved in fighting in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq with separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) guerrillas. This low-intensity war, which has lasted since 1984, has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people, including thousands of civilians.

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Source: ANA MPA