LOC12:55
09:55 GMT
ISTANBUL, July 24 (KUNA) -- Six Turkish soldiers were seriously injured in
a bomb blast in eastern Turkey, NTV news network reported on Saturday.
The blast took place as Turkish soldiers searched the area in search for
for Kurdish rebels in Dogubeyazit of Agri province, eastern Turkey, NTV quoted
sources in the Turkish General Staff as saying.
The injured soldieres were transferred to the closest hospital for
treatment, while the rest of the troops continued their operation, it added.
The Turkish army killed nine Kurdish rebels, while they killed six Turksih
soldiers in clashed between the two sides during a Kurdish attack on a Turkish
military center on the boarders with Iraq.
Only four bodies of the dead rebels were found, while reports indicated that
at least nine of them were killed, the sources added.
Ankara says that the Kurdish Labor Party (PKK) has found a stronghold for
itself in northern Iraq, where it is supplied with weapons and bombs to launch
attacks across the borders on Turkey.
The Turkish army is launching a number of attacks against the PKK for
several weeks. The death toll of clashes between the Turkish army and the PKK
reached 45,000 since the outbreak of the seperatist revolt in 1984. (end)
ta.lb
KUNA 241255 Jul 10NNNN