Austrian police arrest three PKK members for human trafficking

Austrian police stopped a van on a highway in the city of Offenberg and arrested three PKK members who were helping 9 illegal migrants cross into the country, security officials told Anatolian Agency on Thursday.

The illegal migrants were deported, as the three suspects were arrested, the agency said.Â

The suspects sought asylum in Austria in the past but were rejected on the grounds that they were related to the PKK, it added.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey as well as the most of the international community, including the United States and the European Union. It also intensified acts of human trafficking, drug smuggling and collecting rake-off in order to raise funds recently.

European countries had intensified their efforts to crackdown PKK militants after the terrorists kidnapped three German tourists in the eastern Turkey. The kidnapped Germans were released.