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Four Turkish soldiers killed in fresh clashes with terrorist PKK- UPDATED

Four Turkish soldiers killed in fresh clashes with terrorist PKK- <font color=red>UPDATED</font>

22 August 2012 21:22 (UTC +04:00)

The clashes came after a land mine attack by PKK terrorists on an armored vehicle travelling in Åžemdinli district of Hakkari. Four Turkish soldiers died and two others injured in the clashes. The clashes in the region continue.

The clashes followed a deadly blast on the second day of Eid al-Fitr, the three-day religious holiday that follows the holy month of Ramadan, in southern Turkish province of Gaziantep on the Syrian border and a series of land mine attacks by PKK terrorists. Nine killed in Gaziantep blast and at least four killed in land mine attacks. Turkish authorities say the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is believed to be behind the Gaziantep attack. However, the terrorist group denied responsibility for it.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union, launched a separatist fight in southeastern Turkey 28 years ago. More than 40,000 people have since been killed.

The violence is a headache for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan as he seeks to limit the impact on Turkey of the conflict in Syria, where the PKK is exerting growing authority in some border areas. Ankara believes PKK terrorists are receiving arms from Syrian forces.

Suspected PKK members ambushed a Turkish military bus in western Turkey earlier this month, an attack outside the group’s regular field of operation in the mainly Kurdish southeast.