Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Four Turkish security force members killed in ambush
25 May 2005 10:09:38 GMT

Source: Reuters

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 25 (Reuters) - Kurdish rebels killed four members of the Turkish security forces in an ambush on their vehicle on Wednesday, a provincial governor said, amid warnings that violence is on the rise in the troubled southeast.

Two soldiers and two village guards -- members of a state-armed militia -- were killed when Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas attacked their vehicle, said Haluk Imga, the governor of Batman province.

Security forces had launched an operation to apprehend the guerrillas, Imga said in a statement.

The military warned this month the PKK could step up attacks in Turkey after a large number of them were detected smuggling in explosives from northern Iraq, where the PKK is based.

Clashes have increased since last year when the guerrillas called off their unilateral ceasefire, threatening to end the lull in fighting the mainly Kurdish region has enjoyed in recent years.

More than 30,000 people, mainly Kurds, have been killed since 1984 when the PKK launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey.


http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25641367.htm