Kurdish Freedom Fighters say Have Bodies Of 15 Of 22 Turkish Troops
ZAKHU, Southern Kurdistan, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Kurdish PKK guerrillas said on
Saturday they had recovered the bodies of 15 of the 22 Turkish soldiers they say
they have killed in clashes since Turkey launched an offensive against them.
The guerrillas had also begun planning reprisal attacks on Turkish soil, a
spokesman for the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said.
"There are 22 Turkish soldiers that have been killed and our soldiers have the
bodies of 15," Ahmed Danees, head of foreign relations for the PKK, told Reuters
by telephone, adding they would soon release the names of those killed.
"The Turkish army is using all its weapons including fighter jets, helicopters
and artillery," Danees said, adding that clashes continued.
"We are using guerrilla warfare. We are laying mines and planning ambushes on
the Turkish side of the border."
The Turkish general said his troops had killed a further 11 PKK forces on
Saturday, bringing the total PKK death toll according to Ankara's estimates to
at least 55.
But Ahmed Danees said that there had been no fresh clashes on Saturday and that
the Turkish general is once again lying to himself and to his people, though
Turkish warplanes and helicopters had attacked targets along the border.
"After clashes yesterday between the PKK and the Turkish forces, 22 Turkish
soldiers were killed. Not more than five PKK soldiers were wounded," he said.
"Turkish forces used helicopters to evacuate the wounded," he said, speaking
from an undisclosed location.
