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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Turkish troops 'killed by Kurdish rebels' | Turkish troops 'killed by Kurdish rebels' |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| At least eight Turkish soldiers have been killed and 16 wounded in an ambush by Kurdish rebels. | |
| The attack took place in Yuksekova, near the border with Iraq and Iran. Ground troops and combat helicopters are pursuing the assailants, according to state TV. | The attack took place in Yuksekova, near the border with Iraq and Iran. Ground troops and combat helicopters are pursuing the assailants, according to state TV. |
| Several thousand Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels are believed to be based in hideouts in northern Iraq. | Several thousand Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels are believed to be based in hideouts in northern Iraq. |
| Tens of thousands of people have died since the PKK took up arms in 1984. | Tens of thousands of people have died since the PKK took up arms in 1984. |
| Security sources told Reuters that the rebels had crossed the border to carry out the attack on an army post, and had then retreated back to Iraq. | Security sources told Reuters that the rebels had crossed the border to carry out the attack on an army post, and had then retreated back to Iraq. |
| Clashes between the PKK and the Turkish armed forces have increased in south-eastern Turkey over the past year, and the PKK has in the past carried out bombings in other parts of the country. | Clashes between the PKK and the Turkish armed forces have increased in south-eastern Turkey over the past year, and the PKK has in the past carried out bombings in other parts of the country. |
| A powerful bomb in Ankara in September last year killed three people and wounded 15. | A powerful bomb in Ankara in September last year killed three people and wounded 15. |
| Hard line | |
| The BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul said the attack near Yuksekova followed the same pattern as other recent operations by the PKK. | The BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul said the attack near Yuksekova followed the same pattern as other recent operations by the PKK. |
| The rebels launched their assault on the isolated military base at night. The Turkish authorities say 10 insurgents were killed in the fighting. | |
| The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken an increasingly hard line towards the PKK, our correspondent says. | The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken an increasingly hard line towards the PKK, our correspondent says. |
| Thousands of Kurdish civilians believed to support the movement have been arrested, and the army has been authorised to pursue and engage insurgents. | Thousands of Kurdish civilians believed to support the movement have been arrested, and the army has been authorised to pursue and engage insurgents. |
| The government acknowledges that the conflict cannot be solved through military means, although negotiations have made little headway, our correspondent adds. | The government acknowledges that the conflict cannot be solved through military means, although negotiations have made little headway, our correspondent adds. |
| Kurdish minorities constitute up to a fifth of Turkey's population and also live in Iraq, Iran and Syria. | |
| The PKK, which is classified as a terrorist organisation by the EU and the US, launched a guerrilla campaign in 1984 for an ethnic homeland in the Kurdish heartland in the south-east of Turkey. | |
| It has now dropped a claim for an independent Kurdish state but says it is fighting for autonomy and the cultural rights of the Kurdish people. |