9 Turkish Soldiers Killed in Terrorist Ambush
Nine soldiers and a village guard died and several other soldiers were injured on Wednesday when their convoy was hit by a series of blasts in the southeastern province of Hakkari. The explosions reportedly took place on the 15th kilometer of the Hakkari-Çukurca Highway in the morning.
One soldier was announced to have died initially and the death toll was reported to have increased to eight when seven soldiers injured in the blast also died. However, an official statement from the Hakkari Governor’s Office said seven soldiers were killed and eleven others were injured in the ambush. Hakkari Governor Muammer Türker later announced that a village guard was also killed in one of the four explosions.
The private Cihan news agency reported that one of the soldiers who died in the blast was a major, who was in command of the troops. Cihan also said the terrorists opened fire on the vehicle after exploding the remote-controlled land mine, which increased the death toll.
Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz vowed to retaliate in kind to the attack in his initial comments. A large-scale operation was launched in the area to capture the attackers.
The PKK has killed more than 20 Turkish soldiers in intensified attacks over the past two weeks in its campaign for autonomy in southeastern Turkey. The attacks came after the government unveiled a plan in late July to deploy elite police squads in the fight against terrorism and slowly handed more power to police in domestic security matters, which could also undercut the traditional role of the armed forces. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also recently announced that Turkey will adopt new measures in the fight against the PKK.
Turkey has fought the PKK since 1984, when it took up arms against the state with the goal of establishing an autonomous Kurdish state in the eastern and southeastern parts of Turkey. More than 40,000 soldiers and civilians have been killed in clashes thus far. The PKK has been declared a terrorist organization by a large majority of the international community, including the US and the European Union.
17 August 2011
SOURCE: TODAYSZAMAN.COM
