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Turkish PM Vows To 'Wipe Out' PKK After 16 Soldiers Killed

September 07, 2015

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has vowed to "wipe out" Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants after 16 Turkish soldiers were killed by a rebel attack.

Davutoglu said in a televised address on September 7 that "these terrorists must be wiped out from the mountains.... The mountains of this country must not be handed over to terrorists."

The Turkish military said the same day that it had bombed 23 Kurdish rebel targets in mountains along the Iraqi border, where the PKK has several strongholds.

The strikes came after an overnight attack on a Turkish Army convoy in the Yuksekova district of the southeastern Hakkari Province left 16 soldiers dead and at least six wounded.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attackers used a land mine in targeting two vehicles.

Erdogan said later on September 6 that Turkey would step up its fight against the PKK.

He added that some 2,000 PKK militants had been killed since July.

Based on reporting by AP, Anatolia, Reuters, AFP, and BBC

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/turkey-kurds-militants-pkk-ambush/27230301.html

Copyright (c) 2015. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.