Three Turkish Village Guards Killed In Terrorist Attack In Hatay

HATAY (CÝHAN) - Three village guards were killed and one other wounded in clashes with rebels in the southern Turkish city of Hatay yesterday evening.
Village guards Bahattin Erdem, Necati Erdem and Ekrem Koca were killed by militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK/KONGRA-GEL) who attempted to enter the mountain village on Sunday evening. One wounded guard, Adem Akilli, was taken to Iskenderun State Hospital.
It was a continuation of the recent spate of violence in the region since the PKK/KONGRA-GEL called off its ceasefire in early June. Five members of the security forces and five terrorists have been killed in recent weeks.
In a separate incident, two militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK/KONGRA-GEL) were killed in southeastern Turkish city of Bingol yesterday evening.
The village guard system is still in force in 22 provinces across Turkey. Nearly 59,000 people have served as village guards. There are currently nearly 23,000 voluntary guards who protect their villages against terrorist threats.
A few hundred PKK terrorists are believed to be active in the eastern part of Turkey. However, intelligence sources say that some PKK militants have infiltrated Turkey from neighboring Iraq in recent weeks.
Two soldiers were killed and one was wounded in a bomb attack in southeastern Turkish city of Tunceli on Saturday. Nearly 10,000 Turkish troops have launche operations in a remote corner of Tunceli since last Friday.
The separatist activities of the outlawed PKK/KADEK terror organization claimed nearly 30,000 lives in the region. However, the insurgency declined sharply following the capture of organization leader Abdullah Öcalan.
A total of 1,284 village guards had lost their lives in clashes with terrorists.