| Submit your comments on this article |
| The Grand Turk |
| Seven Turkish troops killed in Kurdish rebel attack |
| 2012-09-19 |
| DIYARBAKIR, Turkey: Seven Turkish troops were killed and almost 60 others were wounded yesterday in a rocket assault on their military convoy in TurkeyÂ’s southeast, according to local security sources. The military convoy was hit by Kurdish rebel rockets on the highway on the outskirts of southeastern Bingol province, sparking a fire that wounded 58 soldiers aboard an army bus. The number of dead soldiers was initially announced at four and the wounded at 48 by the local governor. Dozens of wounded soldiers are being treated at nearby hospitals and the death toll may still rise, according to the sources. The Turkish army retaliated with an immediate operation backed by air power in the larger Bingol area to capture the members of the Kurdistan WorkersÂ’ Party (PKK) who staged the attack, Anatolia news agency reported. The assailants are identified by witnesses as three men who drove away in a car after the attack, and they are believed to be traveling with heavy explosives on board, NTV private news channel reported. PKK attacks against Turkish security forces have become almost daily events in the Kurdish-majority southeast, but a powerful rocket ambush carried out in daylight marks a rare incident. |
| Posted by:Steve White |