11 Kurdish rebels killed in fighting in Turkey

Two soldiers were also killed in clashes in southeastern Hakkari Province, said the governor of the province, Erdogan Gurbuz. About 4,000 Turkish troops were chasing the guerrillas near the city of Hakkari, where the borders of Iraq, Iran and Turkey meet, CNN-Turk television reported.
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Violence in the mainly Kurdish southeast has been on the rise since fighters from the former Kurdistan Workers Party, now known as Kongra-Gel, called off a five-year unilateral cease-fire on June 1, threatening to rekindle a separatist conflict that killed more than 30,000 people, mostly Kurds, in the 1980s and 1990s. The latest fighting broke out Saturday in the mountainous Sirnak Province near the Iraqi border, the official said.
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Turkish authorities blamed the rebels for bomb attacks in August on two small hotels and a liquefied petroleum gas plant in Istanbul that killed two people and wounded 11 others.
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Fighting since June 1 has been mainly isolated to the southeast, but the group has indicated it could target tourist areas in western Turkey. It denied accusations it was behind bomb attacks in Istanbul in August that killed two in the popular tourist district of Sultanahmet. The rebels declared a cease-fire in 1999 after the capture of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, but ended it in June, saying Turkey had not responded in kind. Turkey has ruled out any dialogue with the group, which is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department and the European Union, and has vowed to maintain its military drive against the rebels. (AP, Reuters) ANKARA Turkish troops have killed 11 Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey during the past three days, an official said Tuesday. It was biggest offensive against autonomy-seeking Kurds in five years.
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Two soldiers were also killed in clashes in southeastern Hakkari Province, said the governor of the province, Erdogan Gurbuz. About 4,000 Turkish troops were chasing the guerrillas near the city of Hakkari, where the borders of Iraq, Iran and Turkey meet, CNN-Turk television reported.
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Violence in the mainly Kurdish southeast has been on the rise since fighters from the former Kurdistan Workers Party, now known as Kongra-Gel, called off a five-year unilateral cease-fire on June 1, threatening to rekindle a separatist conflict that killed more than 30,000 people, mostly Kurds, in the 1980s and 1990s. The latest fighting broke out Saturday in the mountainous Sirnak Province near the Iraqi border, the official said.
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Turkish authorities blamed the rebels for bomb attacks in August on two small hotels and a liquefied petroleum gas plant in Istanbul that killed two people and wounded 11 others.
.
Fighting since June 1 has been mainly isolated to the southeast, but the group has indicated it could target tourist areas in western Turkey. It denied accusations it was behind bomb attacks in Istanbul in August that killed two in the popular tourist district of Sultanahmet. The rebels declared a cease-fire in 1999 after the capture of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, but ended it in June, saying Turkey had not responded in kind. Turkey has ruled out any dialogue with the group, which is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department and the European Union, and has vowed to maintain its military drive against the rebels. (AP, Reuters) ANKARA Turkish troops have killed 11 Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey during the past three days, an official said Tuesday. It was biggest offensive against autonomy-seeking Kurds in five years.
.
Two soldiers were also killed in clashes in southeastern Hakkari Province, said the governor of the province, Erdogan Gurbuz. About 4,000 Turkish troops were chasing the guerrillas near the city of Hakkari, where the borders of Iraq, Iran and Turkey meet, CNN-Turk television reported.
.
Violence in the mainly Kurdish southeast has been on the rise since fighters from the former Kurdistan Workers Party, now known as Kongra-Gel, called off a five-year unilateral cease-fire on June 1, threatening to rekindle a separatist conflict that killed more than 30,000 people, mostly Kurds, in the 1980s and 1990s. The latest fighting broke out Saturday in the mountainous Sirnak Province near the Iraqi border, the official said.