Three soldiers killed in clash with rebels
Kurdish rebels have killed three Turkish soldiers in an overnight clash in Turkey, reports said today.
The clash occurred near the town of Pervari in Siirt province, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported. Private CNN-Turk television said that Turkish troops killed 21 Kurdish rebels in the clashes but that report could not immediately be confirmed.
CNN-Turk said Turkish troops were pursuing rebels believed to have infiltrated into Turkey from neighbouring Iraq in the area during the past week and the clash erupted overnight.
The Turkish casualties were a lieutenant and two sergeants, the news channel reported. Military officials were not available for comment.
Violence has increased since June, when the rebels declared an end to a five-year old unilateral truce, saying that Turkey had not reciprocated. The rebels had declared the cease-fire in 1999, following the capture of their leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Earlier this month, Turkish troops killed nine rebels in a five-day clash on the Iraqi border.
The rebels belong to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has been seeking autonomy in Turkey’s south-east and has battled government forces since 1984 – a conflict that has killed more than 37,000 people.
