Kurdish Rebels Kill Soldiers in Attack, Turkish President Says
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Version 0 of 1. ANKARA — Kurdish rebels attacked two military vehicles in southeast Turkey, the country’s president said Sunday, indicating that several Turkish soldiers had been killed in the assault. Hearing of the attack, the prime minister returned to the capital, Ankara, to lead an emergency security meeting. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a television interview that two armored military vehicles had been targeted by the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party near the village of Daglica, in Hakkari Province, bordering Iraq and Iran. He described it as an attack on armored vehicles with land mines. He said Turkey’s security forces would respond in a “different and determined” manner. The Firat News Agency, which is close to the rebels, quoted a rebel statement as saying 15 soldiers had been killed in a “sabotage action” against a convoy of military vehicles. A statement quoted by the Reuters news agency said “a large number of weapons were seized” as well. The claims could not be immediately verified. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu cut short a visit to the city of Konya, where he had watched an international soccer match, to convene a security meeting. No statement was issued after it ended. The state-run Anadolu Agency said the military retaliated to the attack by launching an air operation, with F-4 and F-16 jets striking a dozen targets thought to be linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in the region. The renewed fighting between the party and the security forces has killed about 200 people since July, including around 70 soldiers and police officers. The fighting has derailed a two-and-a-half-year peace process. |