Turkish soldiers killed in Kurdish militants’ road blast

ANKARA: Kurdish militants killed two Turkish soldiers in a roadside bombing yesterday, the military said, apparently retaliating for Ankara’s crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) launched in tandem with strikes on selfstyled Islamic State (IS) insurgents in Syria.

Long a reluctant member of the US-led coalition against the IS, Turkey made a dramatic turnaround this week by granting the alliance access to its air bases and launching air raids against both the jihadist movement and the PKK.

But the relapse into serious conflict between Turkey and the PKK has raised doubts about the future of Nato member Turkey’s peace process with Kurdish foes that started in 2012, after 28 years of bloodshed, but has recently stalled.

A car bomb and roadside explosives hit a passing military vehicle on a highway near Diyarbakir in the mainly Kur- dish southeast of Turkey overnight yesterday.

Kurdish militants then opened fire on the vehicle with long-range rifles. Four other soldiers were injured.

At least six people had been detained in connection with the attack, Dogan news agency reported.

The PKK, which Ankara and Washington deem a terrorist group, has also targeted police officers in the southeast and elsewhere, accusing the Islamist-rooted central government of covertly helping the IS to the detriment of Syrian Kurds.

The outlawed PKK has waged an insurgency against Ankara for Kurdish autonomy since 1984. Opposition politicians and critics accuse President Tayyip Erdogan of taking up the campaign against the IS as a political cover to clamp down on Kurds.

A senior US diplomat condemned recent PKK attacks but said there was no link between Turkey’s fresh strikes on Kurdish militants and its newfound boldness in tackling the IS.

White House spokesperson Ben Rhodes said: “The US, of course, recognises the PKK specifically as a terrorist organisation. And so, again, Turkey has a right to take action related to terrorist targets. And we certainly appreciate their interest in accelerating efforts against the IS.”

Turkey said its decision to enter the battle against the IS soon after an IS suicide bomber killed 32 people, mainly Kurds, in the Turkish town of Suruc, would help create “a safe zone” across the nearby border in northern Syria.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the campaign was no one-off and would continue “as long as there is a threat against Turkey. – Reuters