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DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - A Kurdish
separatist guerrilla was killed in a clash with
Turkish security forces on Saturday in the country's
southeast, a security official said.
Fighting broke out in a rural area of Hatay
province, which borders Syria, the official said.
The militant, a member of the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) group, was believed to have crossed the
border from Syria in recent days.
Hatay governor Abdulkadir Sari said in a statement
that an operation against a small group of PKK
members was continuing.
Unrest has increased in Turkey's mainly Kurdish
southeast since the PKK called off its unilateral
cease-fire in June. The region had enjoyed relative
calm since the capture of PKK commander Abdullah
Ocalan in 1988.
More than 30,000 people, mainly Kurds, have been
killed since 1984, when the PKK launched its armed
campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey.
Most of the rebels are in mountain camps in northern
Iraq, but security sources say around 2,000 PKK
fighters have crossed back into Turkey since the end
of the truce, often traveling via Iran and Syria.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
International News Article
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