Turkish troops die in suspected Kurdish PKK attack

Eight Turkish soldiers have been killed in a suspected attack by Kurdish militants in Hakkari province, close to the Iraqi border.

Officials and Turkish media said the troops died after their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb or mine. There were also reports of a shoot-out.
Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz blamed the attack on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The rebels have reportedly confirmed that they carried out the attack.
There has been an increase in Kurdish rebel attacks since July.
Security sources told Reuters news agency that the cause of the latest deaths had been a remote-controlled explosive device. AFP news agency reported two separate mine blasts.
The attack occurred in the district of Cukurca, and officials said military reinforcements were being deployed to the area.
"They [the rebels] are testing our patience. We'll retaliate in kind," Mr Yilmaz was quoted as saying.
AFP news agency quoted Doldar Hammo, whom it described as a PKK spokesman, as saying his group had carried out the ambush.
Fighting had continued for two hours, he added.
   
Strategy questions

The attack will add to pressure on the government to devise a more effective strategy for combating the PKK, the BBC's Jonathan Head reports from Istanbul.
The government has already said it will ask the police to play a bigger role in counter-insurgency, he says, but this idea has been challenged by critics who argue that the police are no better equipped to tackle the PKK than the army is.
The government is also planning more cross-border operations into northern Iraq, where the PKK's main bases are.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned recently of tougher action against Kurdish rebels.
Our correspondent says there is little talk now of renewing the so-called "democratic opening", an initiative from two year ago, which aimed to end the conflict in the south-east by expanding the rights of the Kurdish minority.
Kurds from the PKK have been waging an armed campaign for autonomy that dates back to 1984.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in the violence.
On Saturday, three soldiers were killed in a PKK ambush in eastern Turkey while last month, 13 soldiers and seven Kurdish rebels were killed in the deadliest clash in three years.

Posted in: europe