KurdistanObserver.com

Parade For Slain PKK Kurdish Rebel Turns Violent In Diyarbakir

DIYARBAKIR, (AFP) Feb 27, 2006- Turkish riot police clashed with Kurdish protesters parading the coffin of a slain rebel fighter through the streets of the southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Sunday, media reports said.

About 10 people including police and journalists were injured in the melee after a hospital handed over the body of one of seven guerrillas killed by security forces to the man's family for burial.

Protesters chanted slogans of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party and threw rocks and sticks at police who retaliated with baton charges, tear gas and water cannons.

Seven rebels were killed in an army operation on Thursday and Friday in the neighboring province of Mardin, the local governor said. Officials initially put the death toll at eight.

Troops seized seven rifles and two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of explosives in a cave where the militants were hiding.

Unrest in the southeast has increased since June 2004 when the PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Ankara, the European Union and the United States, called off a five-year unilateral ceasefire.