|
Turkish Soldier killed in mine blast
blamed on Kurdish rebels
11.4.2006
|
|
|
|
DIYARBAKIR,
Kurdistan-Turkey, April 11, 2006 (AFP) - A Turkish
soldier was killed in a landmine blast blamed on
Kurdish rebels in the southeast of the country while
six teenage boys were injured in another landmine
explosion, security officials said Tuesday.
The first explosion occurred late Monday on a road
near the town of Silvan, 80 kilometers (50 miles)
east of Diyarbakir, the central city of Turkey's
mainly Kurdish southeast.
The mine was activated by suspected militants from
the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
killing one soldier and injuring another inside the
vehicle transporting garbage to a nearby dump, the
officials said, asking not to be named.
In the second explosion, six boys, aged between 12
and 14, were wounded when they stepped on a landmine
while walking near their homes on the outskirts of
Sirnak city, close to the border with Syria and
Iraq, local officials said.
One of the boys was in a serious condition.
It was not clear who had planted the mine, but
initial suspicions fell on the PKK, they added.
Landmine attacks have become a hallmark of PKK
violence since the group called off a five-year
unilateral ceasefire in June 2004.
The attacks were the latest episode in almost daily
bloodshed in the region over the past few weeks that
has seen deadly Kurdish riots in urban areas and
clashes between the army and the PKK in the
countryside.
The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives
since 1984, when the PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist
group by Ankara, the European Union and the United
States, took up arms for self-rule in the southeast.
AFP
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 