LOC10:59
07:59 GMT
ISTANBUL, May 15 (KUNA) -- The level of tension escalated once again on the
Turkish-Iraqi borders between the Turkish army and members of the Kurdish
workers Party (PKK) in the southeast mountainous parts of Turkey.
The Turkish army said in a statement that clashes which erupted between
Turkish security forces and Kurdish rebels led to the killing of 12 Kurdish
rebels and lost one of their own soldiers to a mine explosion.
The clashes began Thursday when PKK fighters tried to cross into Turkey's
Sirnak province, the statement added.
These confrontations come after a week of the PKK's declaration of
responsibility for the attack on an election convoy of the Turkish ruling
party and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan killing one policeman
and wounding another.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the
international community, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984,
calling for setting up a Kurdish homeland, southern of Turkey. It declared a
ceasefire in August 2010 but clashes with the army have increased in the
run-up to Turkish elections scheduled for June. (end)
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KUNA 151059 May 11NNNN