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DIYARBAKIR, Kurdistan-Turkey, Sept 26 (Reuters)
- Kurdish guerrillas have killed two village guards
in a remote part of southeast Turkey near the Iraqi
border, officials said on Monday.
The attack occurred late on Sunday on the main road
linking the towns of Sirnak and Hakkari, the local
governor's office said in a statement.
"The rebels escaped after the attack using the cover
of darkness," the statement said, adding that
Turkish security forces had launched a large search
operation for the culprits.
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announced
last week it was extending until Oct. 3 a one-month,
self-declared suspension of hostilities in its
conflict with Turkish forces. Ankara has dismissed
the move as a public relations gimmick.
Village guards are local militia armed by the state
to fight the PKK in rural areas.
Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of more than
30,000 people since the group launched its armed
campaign for an independent homeland in the
southeast of the country in 1984.
Reuters
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