Turkey says several soldiers killed by PKK bombs; launches air raids
ANKARA, Turkey – Several Turkish soldiers were killed or wounded Sunday by roadside bombs blamed on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey’s Kurdish southeast, the official Anadolu Agency reported.
It said the Turkish air force had launched air raids on PKK targets in the country’s Kurdish southeast following the attack.
“Explosives reportedly planted by PKK terrorists on a road in the southeastern Hakkari province on Sunday have killed and wounded several soldiers,” AA reported.
It said the attack took place in the town of Daglica in Yuksekova district on Sunday evening. The bombs reportedly went off near two Turkish military vehicles carrying soldiers.
Security sources said several soldiers were killed or wounded, AA reported, adding there was no official statement on casualties.
PKK’s armed wing the Peoples Defence Force (HPG) however, said in a statement that the roadside bomb killed 15 Turkish soldiers.
“Guerrillas conducted an action against Turkish soldiers in Geliye Doske (Daglıca) area in Hakkari's Gever (Yuksekova) district today afternoon, which left 15 soldiers dead,” said the HPG.
The group added that a number of weapons seized in the ambush.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the private ATV channel that the war on terror would be waged “with much greater determination” since the attack.
AA quoted security sources as saying that air force helicopters and fighter jets launched air raids on 10 PKK targets in the southeast following the attack.
It reported that Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was in a security meeting in Ankara with the interior minister and military and intelligence officials.
Turkey and the PKK have been locked in a three-decade conflict in which some 40,000 people have been killed. The conflict re-ignited in late June, after the PKK claimed responsibility for the killings of two Turkish policemen in late July.
The resumption of hostilities ended a peace process between PKK and Ankara in 2013.