PKK Kills Eight Turkish Soldiers in Roadside Bombing

Gunmen Also Attack Istanbul Palace

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters attacked Turkish military forces today in a roadside bomb attack in the nation’s southeast, killing eight soldiers. The attack came after a new round of Turkish airstrikes against Kurdish sites in the region, along the Iraq border.

Turkey launched its first attacks against PKK targets in Iraq late last month, ending two years of ceasefire, and launching a new round of fighting which has seen both sides escalating precipitously. The main fighting is in southeastern Turkey.

Also today, there was an attack on the palace in Istanbul, with the number of casualties there as yet uncertain, though no fatalities have yet been reported. Police reported they had detained a pair of people in the attack.

So far there was no claim of responsibility in Istanbul, but officials say the two arrested had previously been affiliated with the Marxist-Leninist DHKP-C, obviously meaning they are treated as the prime suspects. The PKK might’ve been behind it too, as they’ve recently launched some attacks in Istanbul.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.