|
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sept 11 (AFP) - 16h15 - Five
soldiers were killed and three others wounded Sunday
in clashes with Kurdish rebels in the eastern and
southeastern regions of Turkey, security officials
said.
Militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) opened fire with machine guns on Yeniyazi
military police station in Bingol province, killing
one soldier and wounding two others, said the
officials in Diyarbakir, the main city in the
Kurdish-dominated southeast.
It was the first strike on an army position for
several years in the region, which had been at the
epicentre of fighting at the height of the Kurds'
armed campaign for self-rule.
Two other clashes took place at Sirnak, in the
southeast, near the border with Iraq, leaving four
soldiers dead and one injured.
Fighting resumed in the region in June 2004 after
the PKK called off a five-year truce, charging that
Ankara had failed to do enough to improve freedoms
for the Kurdish minority.
Last month, the PKK declared a one-month truce until
September 19, but the Turkish army brushed aside the
move and clashes in the region continue.
Some 37,000 people have died since 1984, when the
PKK, considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the
European Union and the United States, took up arms.
AFP
Top |
® 