 Will that be a motive for an incursion within iraq?
ANKARA - The Turkish military said Sunday that 12 soldiers were killed in an attack by Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey near the Iraqi border.
| A stupid move, but a move of calculated stupidity. |
Turkish private television channel NTV said 16 soldiers were killed and 10 others were also taken hostage by the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
| Since the parliament has just voted to allow the Turkish army to go into Iraqi Kurdistan to clean up the mess, the PKK obviously wants to make sure that happens. I'm guessing they think it will lead to internal convulsions within Turkey and advance their cause. I'm guessing the Turks are going to kick their tails. |
| One of the few things the quasi-Islamists and the military-seculars agree on in Turkey is the need to stomp the PKK ... |
The military said it killed 23 guerrillas in an offensive launched in retaliation for the attack, according to the Associated Press.
The attack by the PKK rebels occurred in Hakkari Province, according to NTV. The state-run Anatolia news agency reported that the rebels attacked the unit with heavy machinery, adding that several soldiers were injured. "A large PKK group that infiltrated across our borders launched a three-pronged attack on an infantry company near the town of Daglica, and in the ensuing clash 12 soldiers were martyred and 16 soldiers were wounded," the military said in a statement, according to AP. The attack comes four days after Turkey's Parliament passed a motion allowing the military to launch an offensive into neighboring northern Iraq to stamp out PKK rebels, hiding there. |