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                 Turkey Bombs PKK After Militants Attack Convoy

   by VOA News

   Turkish fighter jets responded overnight with a set of airstrikes
   against Kurdish militants after the Kurdish fighters attacked a troop
   convoy near Turkey's border with Iraq and Iran.

   The military said Monday F-4 and F-16 warplanes struck 13 targets of
   the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

   Sunday's attack involved roadside bombs that heavily damaged two
   armored vehicles and left an unconfirmed number of Turkish troops dead.

   The PKK said the militants killed 15 soldiers.

   Following the attack, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu cut short a trip
   to the city of Konya where he had gone to watch a football game and
   rushed back to Ankara for an emergency meeting with his security team.

   President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed sadness about news of the
   attack, which he said happened while the soldiers were conducting a
   mine sweeping operation.

   "I hope that with the statement of the army a new strategy will be
   adopted in the fight against terror," he said. "We'll continue to fight
   against terror with determination."

   If the death toll is confirmed, it would be the deadliest PKK attack
   since July when violence by both sides wrecked a two-year-old
   cease-fire.

   Turkey launched what it called a new anti-terror offensive in late July
   with airstrikes targeting PKK targets in both southeastern Turkey and
   in northern Iraq.

   The campaign drew some cautions from the United States and European
   Union, which both said that while Turkey had the right to defend
   itself, it should show restraint and pursue a "proportionate" response.

   The PKK has been fighting Turkey since 1984 in a conflict that has left
   40,000 people dead.  Turkey, the U.S. and the EU consider the militants
   to be a terrorist group
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-bombs-pkk-after-militants-attack-convoy/2950540.html