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DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, July 13 (AFP) - 10h31 -
Hundreds of troops, backed by commando units and
helicopters, Wednesday combed a mountainous region
of eastern Turkey to find a soldier kidnapped while
on furlough by rebels of the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK), security sources here said.
The soldier was travelling on a bus that was one of
about 40 vehicles stopped at a roadblock and robbed
by an armed group of PKK militants Monday night in
Tunceli province, the sources said.
The 21-year-old soldier was taken by the rebels and
led into the nearby mountains of the Pulumur and
Kutu region, they said.
It was the first time in six years that the PKK had
set up a roadblock to rob travellers, a practice
that was common during the war between the army and
the Kurdish separatist group that lasted from 1984
to 1999 at the cost of some 37,000 lives.
The war ended when the PKK declared a unilateral
truce after the capture of its leader Abdullah
Ocalan, now serving a life sentence for treason.
The rebel group called off the truce in June 2004
and fighting in the region resumed, increasing
notably after April 2005.
Media reports say 114 members of the security forces
have died in the unrest since June 2004, compared to
only three for the whole of 2003.
AFP
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