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TURKISH TROOPS 'KILLED BY KURDISH REBELS'
BBC
19 June 2012
The army has been authorised to pursue insurgents At least eight
Turkish soldiers have been killed and 15 wounded in an ambush by
Kurdish rebels.
The attack took place in Yuksekova, near the border with Iraq and
Iran. Ground troops and combat helicopters are pursuing the assailants,
according to state TV.
Several thousand Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels are believed
to be based in hideouts in northern Iraq.
Tens of thousands of people have died since the PKK took up arms
in 1984.
Security sources told Reuters that the rebels had crossed the border
to carry out the attack on an army post, and had then retreated back
to Iraq.
Clashes between the PKK and the Turkish armed forces have increased
in south-eastern Turkey over the past year, and the PKK has in the
past carried out bombings in other parts of the country.
A powerful bomb in Ankara in September last year killed three people
and wounded 15.
The BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul said the attack near Yuksekova
followed the same pattern as other recent operations by the PKK.
They launched their assault on the isolated military base at night.
The Turkish authorities say 10 insurgents were killed in the fighting.
The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken an
increasingly hard line towards the PKK, our correspondent says.
Thousands of Kurdish civilians believed to support the movement have
been arrested, and the army has been authorised to pursue and engage
insurgents.
The government acknowledges that the conflict cannot be solved through
military means, although negotiations have made little headway,
our correspondent adds.
From: A. Papazian
BBC
19 June 2012
The army has been authorised to pursue insurgents At least eight
Turkish soldiers have been killed and 15 wounded in an ambush by
Kurdish rebels.
The attack took place in Yuksekova, near the border with Iraq and
Iran. Ground troops and combat helicopters are pursuing the assailants,
according to state TV.
Several thousand Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels are believed
to be based in hideouts in northern Iraq.
Tens of thousands of people have died since the PKK took up arms
in 1984.
Security sources told Reuters that the rebels had crossed the border
to carry out the attack on an army post, and had then retreated back
to Iraq.
Clashes between the PKK and the Turkish armed forces have increased
in south-eastern Turkey over the past year, and the PKK has in the
past carried out bombings in other parts of the country.
A powerful bomb in Ankara in September last year killed three people
and wounded 15.
The BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul said the attack near Yuksekova
followed the same pattern as other recent operations by the PKK.
They launched their assault on the isolated military base at night.
The Turkish authorities say 10 insurgents were killed in the fighting.
The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken an
increasingly hard line towards the PKK, our correspondent says.
Thousands of Kurdish civilians believed to support the movement have
been arrested, and the army has been authorised to pursue and engage
insurgents.
The government acknowledges that the conflict cannot be solved through
military means, although negotiations have made little headway,
our correspondent adds.
From: A. Papazian