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Three Turkish soldiers killed in ‘new PKK attacks’

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Three soldiers were killed in southeastern Turkey on Tuesday in the latest attacks on security forces blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the army and security sources said.

Kurdish militants detonated a remote-controlled mine as a military convoy passed by in the Arakoy region of Sirnak province bordering Iraq and Syria, the military said.

The explosion triggered clashes between Turkish soldiers and PKK rebels, it added.

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) collects pieces of metal as he inspects a crater...
A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) collects pieces of metal as he inspects a crater reportedly caused by an air strikes by Turkish warplanes on July 29, 2015 in the Qandil mountain, the PKK headquarters in northern Iraq
Safin Hamed, AFP/File

The army said two soldiers had died, and one soldier and one village guard were wounded in the attack by the "separatist terror organisation", its customary phrase for the PKK.

Later on Tuesday one more soldier was killed and another injured when Kurdish militants attacked with missiles an armoured brigade in the Silopi district of Sirnak, security sources said.

The militants on motorbikes also attacked a police headquarters with rocket launchers in Hakkari province without causing any casualties, the Anatolia news agency said.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) took up arms against Turkey to establish an independent Kurd...
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) took up arms against Turkey to establish an independent Kurdish state in 1984
Mustafa Ozer, AFP/File

The PKK has stepped up its strikes on the security forces in the last two weeks, as Turkish warplanes bomb its positions in northern Iraq.

Turkish F-16s bombed PKK targets around the district of Daglica in southeastern Turkey -- long seen as a PKK stronghold -- as a reprisal for a mortar attack earlier in the region that lightly wounded a six-year-old girl, the Dogan news agency said.

The spiral of violence sparked by the killing of 32 pro-Kurdish activists last month in a town on the Syrian border by suspected Islamic State militants has left a 2013 ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK in tatters.

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party walks past graves at a cemetary near the PKK headquart...
A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party walks past graves at a cemetary near the PKK headquarters in northern Iraq, July 29, 2015
Safin Hamed, AFP/File

According to an AFP toll, 20 members of the Turkish security forces have been killed in attacks blamed on the PKK since the current crisis began.

The PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies, took up arms for self-rule in 1984 in an armed struggle which has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Meanwhile, an explosion hit a natural gas pipeline transporting gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey in the eastern province of Kars, the Anatolia news agency said.

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) poses in front of a portrait of jailed Kurdish r...
A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) poses in front of a portrait of jailed Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan at a camp on July 29, 2015 deep in the Qandil mountain, the PKK headquarters in northern Iraq
Safin Hamed, AFP/File

There was no immediate claim but the PKK has repeatedly targeted energy infrastructure in Turkey in the past.

Turkish warplanes have for over a week carried out hundreds of sorties over northern Iraq, with official media claiming that that they have caused significant damage to PKK infrastructure and killed some 260 militants.

Ankara is waging a two-pronged cross-border "anti-terror" bombing campaign against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and PKK rebels in northern Iraq. But so far the raids have overwhelmingly targeted the Kurdish rebels.

On Sunday, two Turkish soldiers were killed and 31 wounded in a suicide bombing by a PKK militant in the east of the country, the first time the group has used the tactic in the current escalation.

Three soldiers were killed in southeastern Turkey on Tuesday in the latest attacks on security forces blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the army and security sources said.

Kurdish militants detonated a remote-controlled mine as a military convoy passed by in the Arakoy region of Sirnak province bordering Iraq and Syria, the military said.

The explosion triggered clashes between Turkish soldiers and PKK rebels, it added.

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) collects pieces of metal as he inspects a crater...

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) collects pieces of metal as he inspects a crater reportedly caused by an air strikes by Turkish warplanes on July 29, 2015 in the Qandil mountain, the PKK headquarters in northern Iraq
Safin Hamed, AFP/File

The army said two soldiers had died, and one soldier and one village guard were wounded in the attack by the “separatist terror organisation”, its customary phrase for the PKK.

Later on Tuesday one more soldier was killed and another injured when Kurdish militants attacked with missiles an armoured brigade in the Silopi district of Sirnak, security sources said.

The militants on motorbikes also attacked a police headquarters with rocket launchers in Hakkari province without causing any casualties, the Anatolia news agency said.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) took up arms against Turkey to establish an independent Kurd...

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) took up arms against Turkey to establish an independent Kurdish state in 1984
Mustafa Ozer, AFP/File

The PKK has stepped up its strikes on the security forces in the last two weeks, as Turkish warplanes bomb its positions in northern Iraq.

Turkish F-16s bombed PKK targets around the district of Daglica in southeastern Turkey — long seen as a PKK stronghold — as a reprisal for a mortar attack earlier in the region that lightly wounded a six-year-old girl, the Dogan news agency said.

The spiral of violence sparked by the killing of 32 pro-Kurdish activists last month in a town on the Syrian border by suspected Islamic State militants has left a 2013 ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK in tatters.

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party walks past graves at a cemetary near the PKK headquart...

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party walks past graves at a cemetary near the PKK headquarters in northern Iraq, July 29, 2015
Safin Hamed, AFP/File

According to an AFP toll, 20 members of the Turkish security forces have been killed in attacks blamed on the PKK since the current crisis began.

The PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies, took up arms for self-rule in 1984 in an armed struggle which has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Meanwhile, an explosion hit a natural gas pipeline transporting gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey in the eastern province of Kars, the Anatolia news agency said.

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) poses in front of a portrait of jailed Kurdish r...

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) poses in front of a portrait of jailed Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan at a camp on July 29, 2015 deep in the Qandil mountain, the PKK headquarters in northern Iraq
Safin Hamed, AFP/File

There was no immediate claim but the PKK has repeatedly targeted energy infrastructure in Turkey in the past.

Turkish warplanes have for over a week carried out hundreds of sorties over northern Iraq, with official media claiming that that they have caused significant damage to PKK infrastructure and killed some 260 militants.

Ankara is waging a two-pronged cross-border “anti-terror” bombing campaign against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and PKK rebels in northern Iraq. But so far the raids have overwhelmingly targeted the Kurdish rebels.

On Sunday, two Turkish soldiers were killed and 31 wounded in a suicide bombing by a PKK militant in the east of the country, the first time the group has used the tactic in the current escalation.

AFP
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With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

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