Turks Claim 150 Kurds Killed in Air

[PeaceNet Middle East Team]

From: <pnmideast>
Subject: Turks Claim 150 Kurds Killed in Air


/* Written  5:12 pm  Jan 18, 1993 by sehari at iastate.edu in
igc:soc.culture.ir */

 TURKS CLAIM 150 KURDS KILLED IN AIR RAIDS
    ANKARA, Jan 15, Reuter - About 150 Kurdish separatists, half
the population of a rebel camp in the eastern mountains, are
believed to have been killed in two days of Turkish air raids, the
Anatolian news agency said on Friday.
    Unidentified military officials in Bingol province said the
estimate was based on video recordings made by attacking Cobra and
Sikorsky helicopters, the semi-official agency said.
    A senior regional official in Diyarbakir city said the
    operation was over but did not confirm the casualty toll.
    The helicopters launched the raid on Thursday against about
300 rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) hiding in a camp
on Serik Hill in the mountains of the province.
    ``The area is completely surrounded by security troops. The
PKK has received a very severe blow,'' Anatolian quoted an
official as saying.
    Mountain commandos and special police teams backed the air
    operation.  ``The raiding helicopters have very sophisticated
    systems. They take
recordings of the targets they hit and destroy. We are basing our
estimates on such data,'' he said.
    Officials said they expected the raids to continue unless
weather conditions turned bad. Up to three metres (yards) of snow
in the area kept troops from entering the camp, they said.
    About 5,300 people have died since 1984 when the PKK started a
campaign for an independent state in the southeast.
    The military strike was the bloodiest in a single battle
inside Turkey since September, when 174 PKK guerrillas and 29
soldiers were killed.
    The regional official said Turkey had to give the PKK a
serious blow before March, when weather conditions improve.
    ``Winter and snow hamper our operations, but it affects the
PKK too. We're technically superior to them,'' he added.
    ``We should do something during the winter. Otherwise we may
lose our advantage we gained after the northern Iraq operation.''
    The official was referring to a four-week cross-border
operation in northern Iraq by Turkish troops aimed at securing the
330-km (210-mile) frontier against separatist infiltrators.
    That operation, in October, was backed by Iraqi Kurdish
guerrillas. The Turks gave the number of PKK losses including
wounded and surrendered guerrillas, at 2,000. The guerrillas said
they they lost 150 men.
    The government has said an internal crackdown on the rebels
would follow the cross-border operation.
 REUTER SY AM

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