Aljazeera.net, Qatar
July 13 2005
Kurdish rebels attack Turkish army
Kurdish fighters have become increasingly active
Kurdish rebels have fired rockets at a Turkish battalion in eastern
Turkey in an overnight raid.
It was not clear on Wednesday whether there were any casualties or
damage, officials said.
The guerrillas attacked the infantry battalion based in the town of
Digor, in the province of Kars, close to the Armenian border.
Kurdish fighters have become increasingly active and their attacks
increasingly bold over the past several months.
Hikmet Ozyunlu, mayor of Digor, told the Anatolia news agency that he
heard loud explosions, followed by machine-gun fire which caused
panic in the small town surrounded by rocky hills.
“Later, we learned that they attacked the military unit. The
telephone lines were also cut in the town. They broke the peace in
Digor,” Ozyunlu said.
Earlier this week, guerrillas set up a roadblock and captured a
Turkish soldier in eastern Turkey. Turkey sent more than 1000 troops
on a mission to look for him, but the soldier’s whereabouts remain
unknown.
Kurdish guerrillas have been fighting for autonomy in the country’s
east and southeast since 1984. The clashes have left more than 37,000
people dead since then.
Extradition attempt
Meanwhile, Turkey asked the US to extradite two Turkish Muslims who
were reportedly captured in Iraq on suspicion of involvement in the
2003 bombings in Turkey that killed some 60 people, police officials
said on Wednesday.
Scores were killed in blasts that
targeted Istanbul synagogues
The suspects, who were reportedly captured earlier this year during
fighting near the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar, are being held in
Abu Ghraib prison, the officials said.
US officials were not immediately available for comment but private
NTV television said the US had not yet responded to the Turkish
request.
Police officials identified the two suspects as Sadettin Akdas, 22,
and Burhan Kus, 32.
Kus has been indicted by Turkish prosecutors on suspicion that he
helped build the Istanbul truck bombs while prosecutors accuse Akdas
of being a member of the cell that helped carry out the attack.
The blasts in November 2003 killed some 60 people and targeted two
synagogues – Beth Israel and Neve Shalom – as well as the British
consulate and a London-based bank.
Prison letters
In April, the defence attorney for the two submitted a letter to the
court overseeing the prosecution of bombing suspects, saying Akdas
and Kus wrote to their families from Iraq saying they were being held
in Abu Ghraib prison.
Lawyer Ilhami Sayan said the Red Cross relayed the letter to his
clients’ families, who appealed to Turkish officials to have them
brought to Turkey.
Police said the two were among six suspects who fled to Syria a few
days before the November attacks on the synagogues.
The other four, including Akdas’ brother, Habib, who is believed to
be one of the masterminds of the attack, were reportedly killed
fighting US troops, the Milliyet newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Habib Akdas is believed to have met Abu Hafs al-Masri, a former top
lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, in 2001.