Turkey forces, PKK clashes kill 5
Five people died yesterday in new attacks on the Turkish security forces blamed on Kurdish militants, as Ankara stepped up its controversial campaign against the separatist rebels.
A new wave of violence included the killing of three Turkish troops that the army said was carried out by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants, the deadliest such attack on the security forces since the crisis began last week.
Ankara says it is fighting a two-pronged "war on terror" against Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists in Syria and the PKK in northern Iraq, after a spate of attacks in the country.
But after initially targeting the ISIS group, the campaign has become increasingly focused on the PKK, with the Turkish air force bombing dozens of targets in an almost week-long campaign.
In apparent response, there has been a new wave of attacks on security forces in southeastern Turkey blamed on the PKK with at least 11 police and army members killed since last week.
Three Turkish troops, including an officer, were killed when PKK militants opened fire on their convoy in the southeastern province of Sirnak, the army said.
Meanwhile, a Turkish policeman and a civilian were killed by a gun attack late Wednesday in the Cinar district of the mainly-Kurdish Diyarbakir region blamed on the PKK.
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