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Turkish soldier killed by landmine
1.5.2006
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ANKARA, May 1, 2006 (AFP)
- 11h46 - A Turkish soldier was killed Monday when
he stepped on a landmine believed to have been
planted by Kurdish rebels in the southeast of the
country, the Anatolia news agency reported.
The soldier was walking to his sentry point close to
the paramilitary troop headquarters in Cukurca,
Hakkari province, close to the border with Iraq,
when the blast occurred, the report said.
Landmine attacks have become a hallmark of violence
by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) since
the group called off a five-year unilateral
ceasefire in June 2004 and the rebels started to
penetrate Turkey from their bases in northern Iraq.
The Turkish army has recently amassed troops in the
southeast, in areas along the borders with Iraq and
Iran, to crack down on militants who cross over into
Turkey with increasing frequency in the spring.
Turkey says an estimated 5,000 PKK rebels have found
refuge in northern Iraq since 1999 when the group --
considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the
United States and the European Union -- declared the
ceasefire and withdrew from Turkey.
More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984
when the PKK took up arms for self-rule in the
mainly Kurdish-populated southeast of Turkey.
AFP
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