Roadside Bomb Kills Turkish Officers in Security Zone North Iraq
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Turkey: Roadside Bomb Kills 3
June 09, 2007 21 27 GMT
A roadside bomb detonated near the Turkish town of Sirnak on June 9, killing a lieutenant colonel, a major and a private in the Turkish military and wounding four others. The bomb, believed to be the work of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), was detonated remotely as a military vehicle passed by. The officers were the highest-ranking Turkish soldiers to be killed recently in the region, where PKK militants and Turkish troops frequently clash. Sirnak is one of three security zones established by the Turkish military along the country's border with Iraq.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/09/europe/EU-GEN-Turkey-Kurds.php
Roadside bomb kills 3 Turkish soldiers in southeast
The Associated PressPublished: June 9, 2007
ISTANBUL, Turkey: A remote controlled roadside bomb exploded late Saturday, killing three Turkish soldiers and wounding four others in the country's turbulent southeast, authorities said.
The bomb, believed to have been planted by Kurdish rebels near the southeastern city of Sirnak, went off as a military vehicle was returning from an operation, killing a major, a lieutenant colonel and a private, a local official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing regulations that Turkish civil servants are not allowed to speak to the press without prior authorization.
The major and lieutenant colonel were the highest ranking officers killed recently in clashes with rebels active in Turkey's southeast along its border with Iraq.
The roadside bombing came the day after Turkish Army declared its "unshakable determination" to defeat Kurdish rebels. Earlier this week, a similar bomb claimed lives of four troops.
Turkey is increasingly frustrated with the surge in attacks by the Kurdish guerrillas and has been building up its forces near the Iraqi border, raising fears it might stage a cross-border operation.
Military and political leaders have been debating whether a large scale attack would strain Turkey's ties with the United States and European Union.
The U.S. has warned against such an incursion, fearing it might drag northern Iraq, the relatively stable part of the war-torn country, into chaos. Turkish military has shelled suspected rebel bases in Iraq's north this week.
Earlier Saturday, Iraqi Foreign Ministry said it summoned the top Turkish diplomat in Baghdad and called for an immediate halt to the shelling, saying such actions "undermine confidence between the two nations and negatively affect their friendship."
The province of Sirnak, where the bombing took place is inside one of the three "security zones" Turkish Army declared near the Iraqi border.
Rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, also known for its acronym PKK, have been fighting the Turkish government for autonomy in a decades-long war that caused more than 37,000 lives. The United States and the European Union brand PKK a terrorist organization.
