4 hurt in PKK attack in Southeast, officials say
19 07 2009Four people including two soldiers were injured in a mortar attack by Kurdish militants against a military post in southeastern Turkey, near the border with Iraq, local officials said Sunday.
The attack late Saturday saw terrorists fire six mortar shells from Iraqi territory toward a military border post near the village of Daglica in Hakkari province, the local governor’s office said in a statement.
Some of the shells landed in fields nearby, injuring two villagers, while two soldiers sustained injuries when one of the shells landed near the military station, it added. Earlier reports stated that the mortars had injured three people.
All of the injured were in good condition, the statement from the governor’s office said.
Turkey has long been struggling with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which launches cross-border attacks on Turkey from bases in northern Iraq.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, including the EU and the United States.
In October 2007, PKK militants – which Turkey said had infiltrated from Iraq – ambushed a military patrol near the Daglica station, killing 12 soldiers and wounding 17.
The latest mortar attack followed a PKK announcement Wednesday that they had extended a unilateral truce in their campaign until Sept. 1 to help efforts to find a peaceful solution to the bloody conflict.
Ankara has never formally recognized PKK’s unilateral truces and the military has pursued operations against the militants.
Source: Hurriyet
URL: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=report-3-hurt-in-rebel-mortar-attack-in-turkey-2009-07-19
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